


Collateral

by silversolitaire



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Absence, Action, Angst and Humor, Betrayal, Blow Jobs, Emotional Manipulation, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, M/M, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2016-02-09
Packaged: 2018-05-19 08:29:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 76,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5960827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silversolitaire/pseuds/silversolitaire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After returning from his travels with the Doctor, Jack discovers that not all things are the way he left them. Used to having no problems with change, he finds that this time it's not so easy to change things back in his favor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Collateral

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story originally published in January 2008 and written for the end of season 1. So naturally, there are canonical discrepancies which I hope you can overlook for the sake of the story.

At first glance, the Hub looked the same as always. There was the familiar mix of iron and glass, the soft murmur of the water tower, various machines giving off beeps and clicks at random intervals, lights blinking in the subdued dimness that came with working underground. Overhead, the pterodactyl crowed boredly. When he had filled his lungs with the first breath of "Hub-air", Jack had felt strangely at home.

It had surprised him that the invisible lift had accepted his code and admitted him into the core of the Hub without immediately setting off the alarm. He had half-expected Owen to revoke all his privileges as soon as Jack had disappeared and he had taken over. It was the standard procedure when a Torchwood employee disappeared and Jack wouldn't have resented Owen if he had followed it. Well, apparently, he hadn't.

There was no doubt about it that Owen was in charge now. He had the seniority as well as the necessary experience and clearance. In a year or two maybe Gwen would have become second in command, combining her previous work experience with her newly acquired knowledge of alien technology. But right now she simply was too much of a rookie for the Torchwood Institute to okay anything else.

As for the others, Tosh was way too comfortable with her status as resident computer genius to have higher aspirations and Ianto… Jack felt the familiar pull in his chest whenever the quiet receptionist crossed his mind.

At first, he hadn't thought much about the other man. The excitement of reuniting with the Doctor had pretty much wiped all thoughts of his old life from his consciousness. But then, slowly, he had started to realize that he was indeed missing something else. It hadn't really been tangible at first, just a fleeting impression of incompleteness that had solidified with every day that passed.

Then one day when he had taken a tentative sip from some alien brew that the Doctor had sworn had the same properties as coffee, it had hit him like a sledgehammer: the image of Ianto, impeccable as always in his somber gray suit, as he bent down with his tray, placing a mug in front of Jack with the polite half-smile that he had perfected.

This image had soon been joined by others. Not all of them revolved around Ianto, but a good few of them had. Some had made him smile, some had made him frown, and quite a few had made his heart start thudding in his chest and his pants feel a little too tight. It hadn't really put him into a rush to return home, but it had at least given him a vague idea of what home was.

So here he was now, standing at the base of the invisible lift, for the first time feeling insecure. What if he wasn't welcome at all? According to the Doctor's calculations he must have been gone for nearly ten months. Enough for the team to report him missing, erase his verification and move on. That hadn't happened, apparently. But did that mean that he was welcome?

He stepped out onto the hallway. He knew the day, month and year, but he had no idea what time it was. The Hub seemed strangely empty, but considering that they didn't exactly have fixed working hours, that could mean anything. He had barely taken a couple of steps down the grid when he heard the familiar sound of a gun being cocked.

"Hold it right there."

A brief grin flickered across Jack's face at the sound of Owen trying to sound all tough. Casually, he lifted his arms and turned around, giving the doctor his most brilliant smile. "Is that any way to greet an old friend, Owen?"

"Jack?" Owen lowered the gun immediately and stared at him, incredulous. Only now Jack noticed the pair of chopsticks Owen was holding in his other hand and the unmistakable traces of sauce splattered across the other man's light gray shirt. Ah, lunch time.

"What are you doing here?" Owen continued, putting the gun back into the holster at his back. He seemed to notice the chopsticks just now and quickly hid them behind his back. "Where have you been?"

Jack shrugged as he took the stairs up to the boardroom. "I was in the area and thought I drop in. Wanted to check if my chair was still warm."

The uncertainty on Owen's face was clear. Obviously, he didn't know how to take this. "What, and you think you can just show up like this and resume business as usual? Things have changed around here."

For a moment, Jack felt his fears confirmed, but before he had a chance to reply, Gwen appeared at the door to the tea kitchen. "Owen, I've checked all the cupboards, there is no soy sauce." She stopped when she took in the situation in front of her, an expression of shock causing her eyes to look even larger than usual. Then she let out a squeal and threw herself forward.

"Jack!" she shrieked as she flung herself into Jack's arms, hugging him enthusiastically.

Surprised by the sudden onslaught, Jack stumbled backwards at first. Then he threw his arms around her and hugged her back gratefully.

Gwen freed herself from the embrace and gave him a searching look. "Your hair's a little different," she noted. "And where's the great-coat? Did you lose it? But that's terrible! You're always wearing it! Where have you been? Are you going to stay now? What happened?"

The bombardment of questions made Jack laugh. "Why don't we sit down first?" he suggested as he gently took her by the elbow and led her towards the conference table where several boxes of half-finished Chinese food were scattered across files. At least that hadn't changed.

Owen made a snorting sound behind him as he walked around the table, back to his chair. "Yeah, just ignore the fact that Mr. Deserter here was gone for nearly a year. At least I was trying to act according to protocol."

"Oh, that would have been a first since you've taken over the command," Gwen remarked teasingly as she took a seat right next to Jack. "Now tell us everything, Jack! Are you going to stay now?"

"I intend to…" Jack replied vaguely, looking around the room. "Where's…"

"Tosh!" Gwen interrupted him excitedly. "Oh, I've got to call Tosh. She'll be over the moon! She's at home finishing some programming," Gwen explained as she pulled out her cell. "She's still recovering from a cold and asked Owen if she could work from home until she gets better. Of course Owen said yes since he doesn't really give a fig about who does what." She cast Owen a meaningful glance who glared back at her.

"Tosh! Hi! Yes, it's me. Oh dear, you still sound a bit rough, don't you? What? No, everything is okay! More than okay. You won't believe who's back! Yes! Jack is back! Yes! … Uh, I don't know yet. We didn't really get to talk yet, but I thought I'd let you… yes, that might be a good idea."

Jack watched Gwen chatter into her mobile excitedly and felt his heart warm. It was good to be home. He looked around the room while he waited for Gwen to finish her call. Owen was shoveling Chinese food into his mouth, looking somewhat grumpy but otherwise compliant. Apart from the arrangement of charts and papers pinned to the boards across the room, not much had changed. Everything was just as he had left it. Only one person was missing.

"Where's Ianto?" he asked casually once Gwen closed her cell. "I could use a good coffee," he added quickly to give his question a justification. He noticed the quick glance Gwen and Owen exchanged before answering and his stomach cramped for a moment.

"He's out for lunch," Gwen then said and Jack relaxed.

"You think he'll be happy to see me?" he asked casually, giving voice to a question that had been troubling him for a couple of weeks now. Eventually, he had reached the conclusion that he should count himself lucky if he wasn't shot on sight. Gwen's hesitant, gap-toothed smile confirmed his suspicion.

"Jack… you've been gone for a while," she said carefully. "It was hard for everyone, but especially Ianto. Maybe it would have been easier if you had told us…"

Jack felt the familiar feeling of guilt rise up in his throat like bile, but he forced it down. "I had my reasons," he replied stiffly.

"I know, Jack," Gwen hurried to say. "I'm just saying it would have made it easier, most likely, and maybe then Ianto wouldn't…" She stopped and took a sip from her drink quickly.

Jack frowned. "So, how many candlelight dinners do you reckon it is going to take for Ianto to forgive me?" he asked light-heartedly, playing with the napkin in front of him.

"It's gonna take more than that," Owen muttered under his breath, but was silenced by a kick in the shins from Gwen. "Ow! What was that for? It's true! It's not like he's short of dinner dates, is he?" he complained, rubbing his leg.

"Nice work, Owen," Gwen hissed as she got up. "I'm going to make you a coffee, Jack," she said.

Jack watched her disappear through the door, wondering what that had been all about. For about a second, he considered asking Owen, but decided that he didn't need the other man's advice on his _affairs du coeur_. He'd figure it out sooner or later. He settled for some casual catching up on Torchwood business instead.

A couple of minutes later, Gwen returned with the coffee and placed it in front of Jack. He looked at the light blue ceramic mug and then at Gwen, eyebrows raised in question.

"I'm afraid Ianto accidentally, er, dropped your mug when he was cleaning," she offered as an explanation.

Jack sighed, briefly mourning the loss of his favorite mug and wondering what else he'd lost during his absence. They spent the next half an hour briefing each other on what had happened during his absence. Jack trusted that Gwen would pass on the meager details he'd shared on his time with the Doctor, so he wouldn't need to tell it over and over again.

When he got up, the empty mug in his hand, he felt like he was just about ready to get right back to work. Barring the administrative mumbo jumbo that still needed to be done to reinstate him fully, of course.

He realized that this was still new to his team, but it wasn't like this had been the first time he'd left for an unexpected mission during his time at Torchwood, so he had no doubts that the Institute wouldn't do much more than nod in acknowledgment and ask him to file his report, knowing that he probably never would.

Jack was just about to give Gwen the appropriate instructions when the main door made its usual hissing sound and rolled to the side. He turned around to see who had entered the Hub and his heart jumped a little in his chest when he took in the familiar slim figure of Ianto Jones.

He was wearing an anthracite gray pinstripe suit with a green-patterned tie that Jack couldn't remember having seen before. His dark head was bowed over a file he was reading as he walked towards the stairs, the other hand in his pocket.

Inadvertently, Jack took a step back, bringing the entire boardroom table between him and the man who came up the stairs, still completely oblivious to his presence.

 As soon as Ianto had reached the head of the stairs, he froze. His head whipped up and his slate eyes locked with Jack's. There was just a brief moment of shock written across his face before an expression of calm serenity took over.

"Hello Ianto," Jack said breathlessly, suddenly feeling foolish for his lack of a meaningful line.

"Welcome back, Jack," Ianto replied softly, stepping into the boardroom gracefully. He was no longer looking at him. His eyes were downcast and the dark lashes framing them hid his emotions from Jack's view. He walked towards the table and placed the file in front of Owen. After a moment's hesitation, he pushed it past the other man and towards Jack.

"I assume you're back in charge now, so that'll be your signature that's required on this document." His voice was even and professional, not the slightest trace of agitation in it. When Jack didn't answer right away, he looked up and Jack shuddered at the indifference he saw in the other man's eyes. "You are back now, aren't you?"

"Yeah…" Jack said absent-mindedly, his mind racing to find a suitable approach. He felt the irresistible urge to reach out and hold the other man back as he turned to leave again. "Ianto!" he said before he could stop himself.

Ianto stopped and looked at him, one eyebrow raised questioningly. "Sir?"

Jack felt as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head. He swallowed thickly. "Why don't you make the appropriate calls to let Torchwood know that I'm back in the office. They'll probably insist on my filing a number of forms which I don't exactly know anymore, so maybe look those up on the intranet first, print them out and get them ready for me to sign and fax later. And get me a list of the people who're in charge now so I can make a couple of calls later on."

Ianto looked at him quietly for a moment, then nodded obediently. "I'll see right to it, sir." With that, he disappeared down the stairs again.

The silence in the boardroom expanded. It was only interrupted when Owen whistled through his teeth and said, "Wow, is it just me or did the temperature in here just drop by at least 10 degrees?"

"Shut up, Owen," Gwen said meekly, looking at Jack with compassionate eyes.

Suddenly, Jack felt very angry. Angry at himself for having been so utterly unprepared and letting himself get blindsided by a situation like this, angry at his team for having been the unwitting witnesses of it. "Right," he said roughly, thrusting his hands into his pockets. "Guess I have a lot of files to catch up on. I'll be in my office." He started towards the door, then stopped. "It is still my office, right?" He nodded curtly at their bobbing heads and left.

 

*******************************

 

A couple of hours later, Jack was rubbing his eyes tiredly. He had read up on every last bit of inane documentation Torchwood Three had produced over the last ten months and felt himself reminded once more why he had this inherent dislike for paperwork. How Owen had managed to accumulate such an amount of files was beyond him.

He comforted himself with the fact that he wouldn't have had any better use for these past few hours anyway. Plowing his way through Owen's paper trail definitely beat brooding in the corner of his office.

Only now he allowed himself to lean back in his chair and let today's events sink in. He could kick himself for not having been prepared for such a situation. He wasn't really sure what he had expected to happen, but Ianto sinking into his arms with a happy sigh and giving him a welcome-home kiss would have been somewhat high up on that list. He groaned and rubbed his eyes.

A sound at the door made him look up and he was already mentally preparing himself to drive Gwen away once more, but the words dissipated in his throat when he saw Ianto standing there, holding a stack of files in his hands.

"Ianto," he said, annoyed at the eagerness in his voice. He slid away from the desk with his chair to get a full view of the other man. "What is it?"

"I've got the forms you were asking about earlier," Ianto replied stiffly. "I've taken the liberty to fill them out as best as I could but you'll still need to add some of the details about your absence." Jack could have sworn there was just the slightest trace of reproach in the other man's voice, but before he had a chance to address it, Ianto continued.

"A complete and updated list of phone numbers is in this other folder, as well as the times when it's best to call. The prime minister asked for you to call immediately after your return, no matter the time, so the private mobile phone number is included. And then there's a series of procedures which weren't concluded before your dis… your departure and have been on hold ever since. I've sorted them by importance, then alphabetically by location. I've marked the parts that need to be signed, but it might be a good idea to read through the reports once more, in case I've missed anything."

He placed the stack on the desk, then quickly retreated to the door again.

Jack rolled his chair back towards the desk and opened the folder on top. It was bursting with left-over paperwork from before he left. Everything was neatly organized and filed. It must have taken Ianto hours to work it out.

"You've finished all these reports?" he asked as he looked through the different sheets stapled together. Ianto hadn't even been on scene on most of those operations, if he recalled, and yet the information seemed structured and complete. He realized the style distinctly resembled the endless stacks of reports he'd just been working through for the past couple of hours.

The faintest trace of a blush appeared on Ianto's cheeks. "When you left there were certain periods of idle time while the team tried to reorganize itself. I used that time to sort through… I used it efficiently."

Jack nodded. "And you've been doing the paperwork for Owen, too?"

The remark seemed to surprise Ianto a little, but he caught himself again quickly. "If Owen had been left to his own devices with the paperwork, the office would have soon descended into chaos. I didn't mind the extra hours. The fact that you weren't here digging through the archive every time you needed a file cut down on my overtime significantly, which was unfortunate. The overtime premium I get is an integral part of my budget after all."

The traces of playful bantering that once used to fall into place so easily between them gave Jack a wistful twinge in his chest. He wished things could be the way they were before he'd left.

Ianto must have sensed those thoughts as he visibly retreated behind his carefully erected walls again, his face once more blank. There had been a time when it had been Jack's greatest pleasure to conquer these walls and tear them down, but right now he felt like they were miles high.

"If that would be all…" Ianto trailed off, lingering just long enough to suggest that he was actually prepared to fill another request.

"Ianto," Jack said before the other man could make his getaway.

"Yes, sir?"

"Why don't you ask me where I've been?"

Ianto hesitated for a moment. "Would you tell me if I did?"

"Well, you're not asking."

"Because the answer would be irrelevant to my current situation."

Jack picked up a pen and started turning it in his hand. "Ah… and what would that current situation be?"

"Comfortably settled in my new life, sir."

"Is that so." Jack twirled the pen between his fingers a couple of times before putting it down hard on the desktop. "Oh, for fuck's sake, Ianto! Why do you have to act as if nothing has happened? I get it, you're mad at me! So show me! Yell at me, hit me, curse and throw things! Just don't act as if we were strangers!"

A hint of anger lit up in Ianto's eyes. "But isn’t that how you treated me when you chose to disappear without a word?"

"Aha!" Jack exclaimed as he rose from his chair. "Now we're getting somewhere!"

Ianto shook his head. "We're not getting anywhere. I've moved on long ago."

Giving his best impression of an encouraging smile, Jack replied, "Who says we can't go back?"

There was a moment of silence which was long enough for Jack to hope for a positive response. Then Ianto sighed and whispered, "I do." He turned towards the door. "I've got to go."

"Ianto, wait!" Jack's hand shot forward and pressed against the door, preventing Ianto's escape. "Why don't we stop this? Let's go out for a drink. Just talk, catch up on things…"

"I can't," Ianto said softly, not looking at him.

"Come on, we…"

"I'm expected at home," Ianto interrupted him, this time more firmly.

Jack bit back the impulse to ask who that might be, anticipating that Ianto wouldn't appreciate such a question anyway. He went through a possible list of people who could be waiting for him. Maybe his mom was in town? Or perhaps his brother… sister? Did he even have a sister? Jack made a mental note to check the records later.

Realizing that Ianto was still waiting for a reaction from him, he nodded and took a step away from the door. "All right. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yes," Ianto murmured, head drawn down between his shoulders as if he was bracing himself against the rain as he walked past him.

Jack watched him walk down the hallway towards the main door, punch in the code and leave. A thoughtful expression darkened his face.

As if sensing that the coast was clear now, Gwen materialized next to him and put a compassionate hand on his arm. "You okay, Jack?" she asked gently.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Jack mumbled, still looking at the door with his arms crossed.

"Listen, Owen and I are going to the pub for a drink. You wanna tag along?" Jack had already opened his mouth to decline when she added, "Tosh said she'll come, too."

He thought about it for a moment. Sure, he would have preferred taking that drink with Ianto, but that had gone nowhere fast, hadn't it? What good was it hanging around the Hub, bored and sulking? So he nodded. "All right."

 

*******************************

 

"And by the time Tosh figured out that the mucus dissolved fabric, Owen was already halfway down the street, right in front of a school!" Gwen finally managed to finish her story, having interrupted herself with laughing fits several times already.

Jack joined in on the laughter around the table and took a deep, refreshing swig from his beer. He put it down with a liberating "Aaaah!" and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. This felt good. Not needing to be ready for time-travel at all times definitely had its advantages.

He looked around the table, the laughing faces of his team a blur in the dim light and the smoke of the pub, and he felt glad to be back.

Tosh had arrived shortly after them and immediately thrown herself into his arms with a little squeak of joy. Unlike Gwen she hadn't bombarded him with questions but had just shown him that she was glad to have him back. Her nose had still been red from the cold, but he could have sworn that there had been a tear twinkling in the corner of her eye when she had finally released him.

"Yeah, there's nothing like being caught in a situation that not even psychic paper can solve," Owen remarked dryly. "I mean, what kind of documentation could you possibly present that would warrant being stark bloody naked in front of a group of preschoolers?"

Jack laughed again at the mental image. "And what did you do then?"

"Nothing. I let the coppers arrest me and then waited for Tosh to bail me out. This time, the psychic paper was at least good for something when Tosh waved it around in front of those wankers and told them she was a psychiatrist and I had escaped from her loony bin."

Jack shared his team's amusement, but somehow he couldn't help feeling a little bit remorseful imaging just how much he'd missed during his absence.

"So, did I miss anything noteworthy while I was away?" Jack asked casually once everyone had finished teasing Owen. He watched everyone exchange looks with each other. It was obvious there was something going on that they were reluctant to tell him about. "Come on, there must be something. It's been ten months after all."

"Well, there was this one time when that unknown spaceship…" Gwen started.

"No, that’s not what I mean," Jack interrupted her impatiently. "I've read the reports and it's just normal Torchwood business. But what's up with you guys? Anything going on there?"

Owen shrugged. "It gets somewhat depressing when you look back at the past ten months and realize that nothing noteworthy really has happened. Well, other than an obscene amount of anonymous sex, of course. No really, for me, the job was the most exciting thing." He took a sip from his beer.

"Tosh?" Jack looked at her. She stopped mid-blowing her nose and shrugged. Jack groaned in frustration. "Okay, Gwen! How are things going with you and Rhys?"

A faint blush appeared on her cheeks as she gave him a careful smile. "We've been talking about getting married, but nothing specific yet. Don't worry, we haven't mailed out invitations yet. You'll be the first one to know."

"That's great news!" Jack grinned and squeezed her arm. During his travels he had often wondered how the aftermath of the Rift fracture had affected the team's life, and especially Gwen's relationship. "It's good to see that at least one of us seems to be having a life outside of Torchwood, and a love life at that."

"I don't think Ianto can complain either," Tosh said into her tissue, her voice so muffled that Jack almost hadn't heard it at first.

"What?" he asked, torn between curiosity and an odd sense of dread.

It seemed as if the pub went completely quiet for a moment, everyone staring at Tosh. She looked back, confused at first, then slowly understanding. "Oh…" She blushed and stuck her tissue into her sleeve.

"What do you mean?" Jack repeated.

"Nothing, really," Tosh said meekly. She'd never been a good liar.

Jack felt his frustration rise. "Do you think I'm stupid? I realize something's going on and for some reason you don't want to tell me about it. Spill it already. I'm not some fragile teenager. I'm pretty sure I can take it."

Once more, Gwen was the bravest one to talk. "Well, Ianto's seeing someone," she said carefully.

The revelation didn't really come as a blow. As a matter of fact, Jack surprised himself with not really feeling much at all. "Okay? That's it? That's what you've been fretting about all day?" He felt almost relieved.

Gwen clearly couldn't believe his apparent indifference. "But… we thought since you and Ianto had been hitting it off pretty well before you left that you may be disappointed to find that he'd found someone else while you were gone."

Jack mulled this over for a moment, then he shrugged. "Nah. Can't expect him to sit around waiting for me, can I? I gave the man ideas after all." He saw the surprise on his team's faces and had to fight the urge to chuckle. "So, do I know her?"

"Him, actually," Owen threw in dryly.

"Oh, okay. Him." Okay, that stung a little. He'd always assumed that Ianto's same-sex desires had been limited to him, but perhaps he'd always been interested in guys and Jack had just never bothered to ask.

Gwen relaxed visibly. "I doubt you know him! His name is Jay and he's really sweet! Very friendly. Ianto met him in the coffee shop he always buys his coffee beans in."

"Does he work there?" Jack asked with a frown.

"What? God, no!" Gwen laughed and Jack felt annoyance surge up. "No, he's an insurance agent, I think. Not some awfully exciting job one would talk a lot about. But he and Ianto seem to get along well. Ianto has been a lot happier lately. They spend a lot of time together."

Jack tried to envision this Jay. An insurance agent with a boring, uneventful job who hits on a melancholic looking receptionist in some overcrowded coffee shop? He could almost see it: 'Yes, I'll take the double latte mochaccino decaf and your phone number, please.' Or maybe it had been Ianto who'd hit on the guy. The thought made Jack cringe.

"So, what kind of guy is this Jay? Is he the bookish accountant type, or what?"

Tosh giggled and Jack felt his annoyance swell up once more. "Actually, he looks as far from an accountant as you could imagine. He's really gorgeous."

"Oh yes, like some movie star," Gwen joined in enthusiastically. "Dark hair, manly chest…"

"Do you girls need a moment alone so you can giggle and squee?" Owen asked acidly, his wide gesture including Jack.

"You can affirm your heterosexuality in a moment," Jack dismissed the other man's complaint and thought about what he'd just heard. So Ianto was dating a nice, attentive, gorgeous insurance agent and was really happy about it. He finished his beer in one gulp, feeling strangely irritable all of a sudden.

He set down his beer with a loud thud. "All right, people. Time to hit the sack," he said as he rose from his chair. "Ever had jetlag? Try the one you get from time-travel. That can be a real bitch." He noticed the meaningful glances that passed around the group and groaned. "Will you stop that? I really am cool with this. If my employee is happy getting pounded through the mattress every night by his gorgeous accountant boyfriend, then I'm sure I have it in me to be happy for him."

Jack stopped to consider this thought for a moment. It was true. He'd never expected Ianto to wait for him while he was out having exciting adventures. It's not like he'd led the life of a monk either. In a way, it pleased him to think that Ianto's sex life had been important enough to him to look for a replacement once Jack had been gone. Besides, he knew a little variety made a dull accountant more endurable, so he had no doubts that Ianto would be back in his bed soon enough for clandestine trysts.

That thought cheered him up immediately and he flashed a brilliant grin at his team. "So why don't you all grab a drink and toast to Ianto's highly successful sex life? I'm paying." Digging through his pocket for money, he realized that he hadn't stocked up on recent currency yet. He pulled out a 20-pound note from 2028 with a lopsided smile. "Can anyone pitch in for me? I only got this on me." He handed the money to Gwen whose eyes widened when she looked at the face of the monarch on it.

He laughed as he heard the excited chatter behind him on his way out.

 

*******************************

 

Despite his announcement, Jack didn't go straight to bed. It was true, time-travel tended to fuck with one's biorhythm more than anything else, but it rather affected Jack's sense of time and daily routines than his sleep patterns. Since he didn't really need to sleep and just did it out of boredom most of the time, he found himself getting hungry at the oddest times whenever he had been time-traveling.

Finishing the last remnants of his fish and chips, Jack crumpled up the paper bag and tossed it into the nearest waste bin. He felt better already. Hands buried deeply in the pockets of his great-coat, he looked out onto the inky surface of the bay at night. After the confrontation with Ianto in the boardroom, the coat had been the first thing he'd dug from his bags. He felt a lot more like himself when he was wearing it.

A cold breeze blew from across the bay and whipped the collar of the coat into his face. He turned it up all the way and pulled the stiff fabric tighter around his body. It smelled like rain. Maybe it was time to return to the Hub.

For the first time ever, Jack wondered whether perhaps it was time to get an apartment of his own. As he rode the invisible lift down into the Hub, he found it hard to look forward to the seclusion of his barren quarters. Having gotten used to the TARDIS's enthusiastic rendition of spacious living arrangements for him, Jack couldn't help but compare them to his cramped room beneath the manhole where the pipes rattled constantly and the Weevils' cries echoed through the night.

He hesitated in front of the hatch, not really feeling like attempting to sleep just yet. He had no desire for the nightmares it would bring. So instead he sat down at his desk and pulled another stack of files towards him. He leafed through the papers without interest. His body might not get tired, but his brain certainly did. He switched the computer on instead.

Pleased to find that his password still worked, he logged onto the Hub's intranet and surfed around idly. He found a couple of memos by Owen, attempting to make changes to office policies which quite obviously hadn't caught on judging by Gwen and Tosh's snide replies.

In a shared folder there were pictures of last year's Christmas party at their usual pub. Jack felt a brief moment of regret as he flicked through the pictures. Gwen sitting on Rhys' lap, smiling broadly into the camera and showing off her silly hat. Owen wearing mistletoe tied around his neck with two unknown girls on either arm. Tosh messing with the program of the blinky lights with her laptop. Ianto stirring the fruit punch in quiet dignity while someone else poured extra vodka into the bowl.

On the next set of pictures, they were unwrapping each other's gifts. Apparently, Tosh had been given a personal organizer which she was fiddling with, ignoring everything around her. On another picture, Owen was taking a knitted brown sweater with a weevil face on it out of a box. Judging by his expression, he didn't like his present very much. Another picture showed Gwen taking edible lingerie out of a paper bag with a confused look and the next showed Rhys throwing something at Owen while everyone else watched and laughed.

Jack flicked through the pictures some more and exhaled slowly when he saw Ianto unwrapping his gift, a shy smile on his lips. Someone had given him an automatic coffee grinder and quite obviously Ianto was happy about it. Jack recalled how Ianto had often complained about the old one, that it made his wrists ache. Now Jack wished he had thought of such a present.

He was just about to close the picture viewer when his eyes fell on the man standing next to Ianto. He seemed familiar. Jack remembered having seen him on a previous picture. He had considered him a random guest then, but now he began to wonder about how closely he stood next to Ianto and the expression on his face.

Using the wheel on his mouse, Jack zoomed in on the stranger. He was definitely handsome with a tall frame, broad shoulders and lean hips. If that really was Ianto's new boyfriend, Jack found it hard to reconcile his mental image of the nerdy insurance salesman with the man he saw on the picture.

True to Gwen's description, his hair was the color of dark chocolate. It was cut in a simple, but fashionable haircut. His facial hair was carefully styled close to his skin, just the suggestion of a beard, yet something more than just a stubble. It was kept so close to his rugged jaw line that it showed off the angular quality of his face beautifully and made it almost irresistible to run one's fingers through it to feel both the silky fur and the man.

Jack swallowed thickly. He was battling two instincts all of a sudden; one was to jump him and the other was to punch him. The latter especially confused him since he wasn't the jealous type and yet he couldn't help but stare at the hand that lay loosely around Ianto's waist and the general ease both men seemed to have around each other.

He tried to envisage the two of them together, how they'd act around each other, but found it a bit difficult. Dropping himself into the picture along with them was a completely different thing though.

It'd be interesting to see what kind of person this man was, especially in bed, and how Ianto fit in. Right now, he could think of quite a few ways to fit Ianto between them and all of them made his pants feel just a little bit too tight. Forcing his eyes away from the picture, he closed the program. His heart was thudding in his chest all of a sudden.

Pulling open the drawer of his desk, Jack found the bottle of bourbon he stored there and which seemed to have miraculously survived Owen's reign. He poured himself two fingers. Sipping the amber liquid slowly, he allowed his mind to quiet down and process the new information. He was glad that he had the chance to get used to this in the quiet of his own office.

So Ianto's guy was a hottie. That didn't have to mean anything. He'd have to wait until he met him in person and saw them both together to really be able to assess the situation. He hadn't had the chance yet to ask Ianto about it. That was another interesting question. Why had Ianto hesitated to tell him about this change of circumstances? What did he think Jack would do? He couldn't wait to find out.

Jack put down the empty glass and rolled his chair back to the computer terminal. He remembered one post on the bulletin board that he had just skimmed earlier. He double-clicked it and it popped up on the monitor. It was posted by Owen.

"Ianto, so glad that you have managed to locate a source to meet your own daily caffeine needs, but please remember to get the staff's coffee done before everyone arrives, thank you very much. And make sure you clock in afterwards, not before. Just because you're in the office doesn't mean it's working hours."

What was this about? Jack opened the archive with the CCTV footage and picked a random day from last week. He knew Ianto was an early bird through and through. It had annoyed him on more than one occasion that Ianto had snuck out of his bed long before it would have been time to get ready for the day, just so that he could finish his grooming and then get started on his duties in the Hub on time. Once he'd told Jack that he couldn't focus on morning sex when he kept hearing Myfanwy squawk in the main area.

So, unless Ianto had changed his habits considerably, Jack assumed that he would be at his desk every morning some time around seven. He brought up the footage from the visitor's center from around that time and looked through the archived footage. They showed Ianto sitting at his desk, typing something on his computer. The stack of new mail was sitting on the desk, still waiting to be sorted. Next to it was a paper cup.

Jack skipped half an hour ahead and found basically the same image. He noticed one difference though. There was no mail or paper cup on the desk yet. Frowning, Jack fast-forwarded through the footage. He saw Ianto typing away on the keyboard in fast motion, sometimes picking up the phone or turning to get something from the filing cabinet. Just a normal morning.

At some point, the door opened and someone stepped inside. Jack's back stiffened when he recognized the man from the party. He wore a coat that was glistening from the early morning rain, a dripping umbrella tucked under his elbow. In one hand, he held a stack of mail, in the other a paper cup.

Jack saw him motion towards the door, probably telling Ianto that he'd met the mailman on his way to the visitor's center and had been asked to bring the mail in. Quite obviously, he was a regular visitor. Ianto rose with a smile and walked towards the other man, taking the mail from his hands and leaning in for a kiss. The other man dropped the umbrella and wrapped his arms around Ianto, kissing him back with passion while balancing the paper cup above Ianto's shoulder, mindful not to pour its content on him.

Ianto freed himself with a laugh and brushed off his suit which now looked crumpled and wet from the rain. They exchanged a few words, then the man handed the paper cup to Ianto who took it gratefully and lifted the lid off it, inhaling with closed eyes before taking the first sip. He kissed the other man once more, then went back to resume his seat at his desk.

Jack watched them chat for a couple more minutes before the other man leaned across the desk for another kiss, then tipped his imaginary hat with his fingers and left. Ianto continued working afterwards without further interruptions.

Curiously, Jack looked through other footage of mornings in the visitor's center and the handsome boyfriend hardly ever failed to show up to bring Ianto his coffee and exchange a couple of words with him. Jack had the nagging suspicion that on the mornings when he failed to show up, he probably had been spending the night with Ianto anyway.

He leaned back in his chair with a pensive frown. Looked like the two had a set routine going on. That meant it had to be relatively easy to make the acquaintance of Jay. All he had to do was be at the visitor's center at the right time. Jack checked his wristwatch. It was almost five. He still had time to take a shower and rest for a little bit. Then he'd try his best to coincidentally involve Ianto in a conversation just before his boyfriend dropped in for his routine visit.

 

*******************************

 

True to his plans, Jack made it to the visitor's center by half past six. He arrived just in time to see Ianto burst in, overburdened with a messenger bag, a stack of files haphazardly stuck under his arm and a bag of croissants dangling between his fingers which no doubt were a special order for Owen.

He was wearing a fitted black coat and gloves which he was in the process of taking off with his teeth while trying to balance everything. Sensing that Ianto was about to drop the files and would then spend the next hour trying to reorganize them, Jack quickly stepped in and relieved the other man of his burden.

"Thanks," Ianto said, his voice muffled from the glove between his teeth.

Jack plucked the glove out of Ianto's mouth with a smile. "No problem." He put everything on the desk. "Is the security code still the same?" he asked and at Ianto's nod he punched in the number to stop the alarm from going off.

Sighing, Ianto took off the other glove as well. "I usually try to take off my gloves before I come in since I know it's hard to punch in the number while wearing them, but it was so cold and I had my arms full…"

"It's okay," Jack said gently, finding Ianto's bumbling excuses somewhat endearing.

Nodding curtly, Ianto started unbuttoning his coat and shrugged out of it. Then he walked into the backroom to put it away. When he emerged from behind the bead curtain he had straightened his tie, combed his hair and looked every inch the receptionist he was expected to be.

"Can I help you with something, sir?" Ianto enquired coolly as he stood behind his desk, his back ramrod straight.

Suddenly it occurred to Jack that he hadn't even bothered to make up a reason for seeking Ianto out this early in the morning. He grasped for an idea for a brief moment before settling for blunt honesty.

"I've done some catching up with the others," he said casually as he approached the other man. "You know, talk about the old times and the new, the job, hopes, dreams and aspirations… love life." He detected the other man stiffening up just the slightest bit upon that last word.

"I'm sure you had a lot to contribute to that last one," Ianto said candidly, meeting his gaze bravely.

"Not as much as you," Jack retorted.

Ianto sighed, losing some of the stiffness as if keeping that secret had made it impossible for him to relax. "They've told you," he stated, sitting down on his chair.

"It did come up in the conversation, yes." Jack perched himself on the edge of the desk, delighted at Ianto's disapproving look.

"And you readily jumped at the opportunity to pry."

Jack shrugged. "Of course I'm curious. Can you blame me?" When Ianto didn't answer, he continued. "What I find even more interesting though is that it seems as if you were hesitant to let me know. We've had plenty of opportunity to talk. Was it that difficult to slip in a quick 'Oh, and by the way, I'm seeing someone'?"

Ianto hesitated. "I was… worried."

Folding his arms in front of his chest, Jack asked, "Worried? About what?"

A shrug. "That you'd make fun of me, maybe. That you'd ask questions I wasn't prepared to answer just yet."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Why would I make fun of you? I've actually seen pictures of you both at the Christmas party…" He raised his hands at Ianto's surprised look. "Hey, it was purely coincidental, I swear. Looks like you made quite a catch there. Good-looking fellow you've got."

A faint blush crept up Ianto's neckline.

"Besides, I would have thought it odd if you hadn't looked for a replacement after I'd left." He said that without any hint of bitterness. With a grin, he added, "After all the sex we had you must have gone into withdrawal." He laughed as Ianto's face turned a deep crimson color.

"Jack!" Ianto hissed. "I don't think it's appropriate for you to talk to me like that."

"Oh? It's not? It was ten months ago."

Ianto's fingers curled on the desktop. "No, it wasn't then either. But I didn't mind then."

Covering Ianto's hand with his own, Jack murmured, "And now you do?"

"I…" Ianto's reply was cut off when the door to the visitor's center opened and a familiar figure slipped inside. Ianto pulled back his hand as if it had been burnt and jumped up. "Jay! Hi! Er, Jack this is… Jay… Ja…" he stammered, looking between the two men.

The other man had stopped at the door, looking at the scene in front of him. Jack returned the glance evenly, waiting for a reaction. Up close and in the flesh Ianto's boyfriend looked even better. Pictures obviously didn't do him justice as they didn't capture his presence which seemed to fill the entire room.

Giving him a breathtaking smile, the other man extended his hand and walked towards Jack. "You must be Captain Jack Harkness."

"And you must be Captain Obvious," Jack snapped back before he could stop himself. Calling himself an idiot inwardly, he shook the other man's hand curtly.

The other man laughed softly. "That's Jay Telford, and I've never been in the army. I was just looking at your uniform, actually."

"I see. Sarcasm is wasted on you, isn't it?"

Jay was still smiling, but it didn't reach his steel gray eyes. "Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, Mr. Harkness."

"That's Captain Harkness," Jack corrected him, rising to his full size.

"Ah yes, I'm so forgetful at times," Jay replied casually as he walked towards Ianto's desk and put down the paper cup he was holding. "Although, judging by the insignia on your shoulders, you'd actually be a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, no? And from the looks of it… in the late 1940s?"

Jack's eyes narrowed to slits. "You're very observant."

"Don't worry, playing dress-up is a basic human instinct."

"Are you talking from experience?" Jack asked challengingly.

"I have to admit," Jay replied, meeting his look with calm intensity. "As a young boy I was quite fond of my cowboy outfit."

Jack stepped close to the other man and murmured, "Well, if you ever feel like riding a hot stud, I promise I won't buck too hard."

"Jack!" Both men's heads whipped around and looked at Ianto who was staring at them both with a mixture of disbelief and anger.

"What?" Jack asked innocently. Suddenly, he realized that he had gone too far. It didn't take Ianto's furious look to make him see that.

"I don't believe you!" Ianto ground out through gritted teeth. "Do you think you can just waltz in here after ten months and treat my boyfriend like this?"

"That's okay," Jay said slickly, walking around the desk and snaking one arm around Ianto's waist. "I don't have that much time this morning anyhow. I've got an appointment at eight." He pressed a kiss against Ianto's lips, but it was clear that the other man was too agitated to really get into it.

Jay shrugged and released him again. "Here's your coffee, baby." He pointed at the cup sitting on the corner of the desk.

"Baby?" Jack blurted out. "He's calling you 'baby'?"

"Jack, will you just shut up?" Ianto said angrily, whirling around to face him. His movement caused his desk chair to spin and it swung around, slamming into the desk and knocking the paper cup right off the tabletop.

Before Jack had a chance to react or even realize what was happening, Jay's hand had shot forward, smoothly catching the cup before it even tilted enough to lose any of its content.

"Careful, baby. You don't want to spill any of Bernardo's Brazilian dark roast. It's divine." He put it back on the desk, this time closer to the center.

"Thanks," Ianto breathed, obviously as surprised as Jack.

"I've got to go," Jay said, ignoring the sudden tension in the room. "I'll see you tonight. I'm making Flying Jacob, so save your appetite." He leaned in for another kiss, then nodded curtly at Jack before leaving.

"I don't think he likes me," Jack pointed out when the door clicked shut.

Ianto turned towards him, his slate eyes sparking with barely contained anger. Jack stared back, thinking that Ianto had never looked so attractive before.

"Can you blame him?" Ianto hissed. "Not even I like you a lot right now. You were doing your best to be a complete jackass!"

"Did you think of that pun just now?" Jack asked with a grin. He found it hard to stay serious.

Ianto lifted a hand as if to physically cut off his words. "Just… go. Go back to your office, or your Doctor or wherever the hell you were before you decided to return. Things were going fine before you came back. I was doing fine…" Ianto trailed off, a sudden look of anguish flitting across his face.

Jack sobered up immediately. "Ianto, I'm…"

Ianto stepped away from him before he could touch him. "Just go. Please." He turned towards the cabinet, blindly reaching for the closest drawer and opening it.

Sighing softly, Jack nodded. He turned towards the exit and saw Ianto reach for the buzzer from the corner of his eyes. The door swung open. "I'm sorry," Jack said honestly and left.

 

*******************************

 

"Careful, Jack!"

Gwen's warning cry came just in time for Jack to duck his head and evade the tentacle which crashed into the concrete wall behind him, sending pieces of debris flying everywhere and giving a perfect impression of what would have happened to his head if he hadn't ducked. Leaping back, he raised his gun and fired a volley of shots into the slimy twitching mass. The Kraktarian shrieked and pulled back, retreating into its protective shell.

"Close the damn box already!" Jack yelled, prompting Owen to slam down the lever, trapping the Kraktarian in a steel box they had placed around the shell before engaging the alien in a fight and forcing it to return.

Putting the gun back into its holster, Jack sauntered towards the box, leaning against it with one elbow. Inside, the angry alien was hissing and growling. "I'm definitely out of practice," he admitted as he looked at the rest of his team, pleased to see that they were just as out of breath as he was. "Let's take this thing back to the Hub and get cleaned up."

Inside the box, the alien lashed out and slapped its tentacle wetly against the wall. Involuntarily, Jack jerked away. A quick look around confirmed that nobody had seen him do that and he breathed a sigh of relief. He reached up to wipe his sweaty brow with the back of his hand. When he lowered it again, he noticed the blood on it. "Oh."

"What is it?" Gwen asked, walking around the box to attach the hovering devices they had salvaged from a spacecraft a couple of weeks ago and which made the transportation of heavy objects very easy. "You're bleeding!" she stated the obvious, staring at his face.

"Yeah, no clue why. Maybe a piece of concrete hit me when our many-armed friend tried to get all touchy-feely." He grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped it across his forehead. It stung a bit.

"Do you need to go to the hospital?" she asked, concern reflecting in her large eyes.

He dismissed her with a wave of his hand. "Nah, it'll heal up soon."

"But I thought only lethal injuries healed up faster with you."

"Yeah, and obviously I'm not dying from it, am I?" he replied impatiently. "Let's get a move on." Pressing the handkerchief against his forehead, Jack walked towards the SUV, leaving the logistics of getting a large steel cube containing a growling alien back to the Hub to his team.

 

*******************************

 

Back at the Hub, everyone was sitting at the boardroom table, looking somewhat frazzled. Owen checked his leather jacket, inspecting the tears the size of alien suction cups with an irritable frown.

"Just great," he grumbled, tossing it on the table. "That was my favorite jacket."

"You looked like a dork in it anyway," Gwen said under her breath, picking crusty tentacle slime from her hair. At Owen's indignant "Oy!" she added, "There's a reason this style went out of fashion in the 50s!"

"At least I have a style!" Owen retorted.

"Now, now, children, be nice," Jack interrupted their bickering. "Let's use our brains on figuring out how to get rid of a baby Kraktarian before his mother comes looking for him."

"You mean this is just a baby?" Tosh exclaimed. She was squinting to see him without her glasses since those had disappeared in the toothy gorge of the alien earlier.

"Afraid so." Jack was still pressing the handkerchief to his forehead as the cut persistently refused to close. "Tosh, why don't you go and see if you can reprogram the transporting device we found a while ago. You know, the Beta-X-195 model. That should have a far enough range to take tentacle boy back to his home planet. I happen to know the coordinates for Krakatai 4."

"You just want to dump a baby somewhere on the planet?" Gwen asked incredulously.

Jack gave her an exasperated look. "If you want, you can interview him and see if he tells you his address. If not, then yes, that's exactly what I'm planning to do. His mother will find the baby eventually, trust me, and I'd rather if it wasn't here."

To Jack's relief, Tosh didn't join in on the argument and just nodded, pulling her laptop close to tap in a couple of commands. Gwen seemed to be convinced as well or at least had decided to stop arguing as she just leaned back in her chair, lips pressed together in icy disapproval.

Relieved by the interruption, all heads turned when Ianto entered the boardroom, solemnly carrying a tray full of mismatched mugs. Jack watched him place a mug in front of everyone, saving him for last. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed that his mug was only half-full, but chose not to address it.

Ever since his encounter with Jay a couple of days ago, Ianto was treating him with a mix of cool professionalism and thinly veiled passive-aggressiveness. It was subtle, yet impossible to deny. Initially, Jack had tried to carry on as usual, teasing Ianto with the habitual flirtiness that used to flow so easily between them, but as the cold shoulder persisted he had decided to give Ianto his space.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I ran out of coffee," Ianto said coolly, having detected his reaction anyhow.

"That's okay, Ianto," Jack replied absent-mindedly, dabbing at the cut.

"Is it still bleeding?" Gwen leaned in and gently pulled his hand back to look at the wound. Tosh looked up from her computer to inspect his forehead and even Owen peered at him with mild curiosity. Only Ianto ignored him.

For some reason, this really annoyed Jack and he waved them all away impatiently. "It's fine! Stop fussing over me!" Then he said to Ianto directly, "Just get me something to patch this up so I can stop pressing the goddamn hanky against it."

Ianto looked at him with unmistakable annoyance. Clearly, he didn't want to get involved. "I'll see if I can find a plaster for your scratch, sir," he said and turned away.

"Whoa, who pissed in his Weetabix?" Owen asked, watching Ianto stalk away stiffly.

Jack sighed. "I did."

Gwen turned towards him. "What did you do, Jack?"

Her readiness to assume his guilt amused him. "Nothing!"

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Somehow I find that hard to believe. It doesn't by any chance have anything to do with his boyfriend, does it? I hear you've already met him."

"Yes, I did and I think he's an idiot. He called my uniform a dress-up!"

"It's not?" Owen asked innocently from across the table.

Ignoring him, Gwen said, "That can hardly be the reason why Ianto is giving you the silent treatment."

Jack shrugged. "It may or may not be related to the fact that I hit on his boyfriend."

"You did not!" Gwen looked at him in dismay.

"First you get insulted by and then you hit on the guy… only you could be that desperate, Harkness," Owen muttered from behind the magazine he had picked up to demonstrate his indifference.

Jack looked at him sharply, but didn't comment. "It's not like that. It's not like I was seriously trying anything." He sighed. "I guess I just wanted to see, if…" He trailed off.

"See if Ianto's boyfriend was the kind of guy to accept such an offer?" Gwen suggested.

Jack thought about it for a moment. "I suppose…"

"And what if he had been?"

"Then I would have known that he wasn't the right guy for Ianto. That, and I guess I would have taken him up on it! I mean, have you seen that guy's ass?"

Behind his magazine, Owen groaned loudly. "Seriously, Jack. Is something like that considered a good idea where you're from? Because in this millennium people tend to get a little miffed when their exes make advances on their current partners."

"I'm not his ex," Jack said defiantly.

"I'm sure Ianto would tend to disagree," Owen retorted, folding down a corner of the magazine briefly to give him a look of pity.

"We never broke up," Jack said to Gwen. "Hell, we weren't even together, so I don't see what the big deal is!"

Sighing softly, Gwen put a hand on Jack's arm. "The deal is that for Ianto it was serious. Anyone but you could see that he was head over heels in love with you. And then when you disappeared without a word, he went to pieces. You may not realize this, but it was really bad for him."

Jack looked away.

"At first he kept obsessing over your disappearance, researching for nights on end to find a match for the signature the radars had picked up. He wouldn't leave the Hub for days. While the computer was searching, he kept going on about his crazy theories, how Abaddon must have caused your cells to completely disintegrate or that the Time Agency had kidnapped you."

He didn't really want to hear this. He'd beaten himself up over leaving like that enough already. He didn't need to hear how his actions had affected them all. Yet Gwen didn't let him get away.

"Then when the computer came up with a match and it was clear that you must have left with the Doctor… Ianto didn't really think you'd return. Nobody did. Two immortals, going on fantastic journeys together… We didn't really expect to live to see your return. Why would you come back to lame old earth?"

Many reasons, Jack thought to himself, but he didn't say it out loud. Maybe it was better if they considered him the selfish bastard they'd always thought he was.

"It wasn't until Jay entered the picture that Ianto finally managed to pick himself up a bit  again."

"So, are you saying I should be grateful to Jay for taking care of Ianto?" Jack asked challengingly.

Gwen shrugged. "At least he was there when Ianto needed someone. He made him smile again."

"And his coffee stopped sucking," Owen threw in.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Yes, Owen, that was the most important aspect of Ianto's depressive spell, of course.

"Can't complain!" Owen replied, wiggling his empty mug at her.

Jack sighed. "Okay, okay. So this Jay has been recast as Ianto's knight in shining armor. Got it. Doesn't mean I have to like him."

"No, just tolerate that he makes Ianto happy."

Scowling, Jack murmured, "Fine, as long as he really does that." And who was to say that Jack couldn't make Ianto even happier? That was an aspect he was willing to explore. Putting on a mischievous grin, he whined, "But does he have to be so sickeningly perfect?"

Gwen giggled.

"Seriously, he's handsome, mostly friendly, probably great in bed, he brings Ianto a coffee every morning and he's even cooking for him! How obnoxiously perfect is that? What the hell is Flying Jacob anyway?"

"Uh, that's grilled chicken, crispy bacon, bananas and peanuts covered in chili flavored whipped cream and baked in the oven for twenty minutes," Owen threw in casually while leafing through his magazine. When he noticed the stunned silence, he said in a slightly irritated tone, "What? I get lonely at night and watch a lot of cookery shows."

"I think he's gorgeous," Tosh piped up from behind her laptop screen, all but forgotten until now. "Remember when we were on that stakeout all night long and he came to bring Ianto dinner and he had brought sandwiches for all of us?"

"Yes," Gwen agreed, a dreamy expression on her face. "That beat the grimy fish and chips we'd been feeding on until then by far."

Jack looked at the two women, torn between a burning curiosity to learn more about Ianto's perfect beau and the leaden feeling of missing out that seemed to settle in the pit of his stomach.

Oblivious to his inner torment, Gwen continued, "He certainly has a knack for rushing to the rescue. Like two weeks ago when he caught me just in time before I fell down the stairs when the heel of my shoe broke. After we all went to that pub, remember?"

Tosh thought about it for a moment, then her face lit up. "Oh right! That was when you sprained your ankle, right? Jay carried you all the way back to the Hub. I was so jealous!"

That comment gave Jack the perfect opportunity to latch onto. "Wait a minute. Are you telling me that you let Jay into the Hub? What about security protocols? What does he think we're doing here?"

Tosh waved away his concern with a flick of her wrist. "Don't worry about that. We're using the standard cover story with the city council special task force. Owen made sure Myfanwy was locked away before we went in and he was always with one of us while he was down here. Most of the time we met him in the pub anyway."

Gwen laughed. "Remember when your aunt was there to visit you and he involved her in this debate about the benefits of traditional Japanese theater? Up till then I don't think I've ever seen a 70 year old woman blush and giggle like a teenager."

"Can you blame her? How could she resist a handsome _gaijin_ flirting with her in fluent Japanese? I wouldn't mind him telling me dirty things in any language."

They both giggled.

"Oh God," Owen groaned in exasperation. "I think the estrogen level in here just spiked dramatically. If you girls start synching your period I'm so outta here."

"You know, Owen, that's a good idea actually," Jack said. "I really think you should check on our molluskoid guest and see if he's fit for traveling. Would be a pity if you needed to hold vigil all night to make sure he's okay."

He watched Owen leave the room, muttering curses. Then he turned towards Gwen and said with a lopsided grin, "Guess that settles it. This Jay is too perfect for me to bear him. I'm competitive by nature after all." He said this jokingly with the expected results from the two women, but there was more truth in this than he was willing to admit.

"Anyway," Gwen continued. "To get back to my original point, I think you should be a little bit more understanding of Ianto's feelings. His shell is only paper thin, you don't want to find out how little it takes to crack it."

Jack sighed as he got up. "Fine. I'll keep that in mind." He felt a trickle of blood running down his forehead and quickly caught it with his handkerchief.

"Maybe you should let Owen check it out," Gwen suggested.

"God, no. If I have to listen to one more snarky comment of his I'm turning homicidal. I'll go talk to Ianto and see if he's found that band-aid by now."

He checked the Hub, but Ianto was nowhere to be seen. He felt a flash of indignation at the notion that Ianto quite obviously had ignored his request for a plaster and either gone straight home or at the very least back to his office. He took the elevator up to the ground level to check the visitor's center.

Sure enough, Ianto was sitting at his desk. Jack felt relieved that the other man was still there.

Ianto turned when he heard the hidden door open and a guilty expression flickered across his face before it was replaced by his usual blank expression. "You didn't need to come. I was just about to bring you that plaster, sir," he lied with a straight face.

"Oh, of course you were." Jack felt the inexplicable need to sulk. He walked across the room and perched himself once more on the corner of Ianto's desk. The other man immediately pushed his chair to put some distance between them. Jack sighed.

"Listen, Ianto. I've been thinking…"

"Oh really? Want me to post a special bulletin on the intranet, sir?"

Jack hid a smile. "That won't be necessary. I just thought you should be the first one to know." He saw Ianto fight to keep the smile off his face as well and was pleased. "No, seriously. I've done some thinking and I want to tell you that I'm sorry." He could see on Ianto's face that he wasn't sure what to make of this yet.

"Sorry for what, sir?" he asked reluctantly.

"For everything. For just leaving like that… and for just returning like that, too. For not realizing how this must have been for you. For being an insensitive ass who doesn't think about others."

Ianto didn't say anything for a long time. Then he nodded slowly. "Thank you… Jack." His voice was barely a whisper.

Jack took a strengthening breath. "And I understand if you want to keep a distance, but I'd like you to know that I'd like us to go back to where we were before." When he saw Ianto getting ready to object, he added quickly, "I mean, before all this happened, you know? I like our banter, the way you react to my flirtiness, your grim efficiency and your dead-pan responses to my jokes. I miss that. Don't you miss that?"

The only reaction he got was a non-committal shrug.

"I won't lie, I still find you sexy as hell and if you ever decide that you want to pick up where we left off I'll be more than happy to comply…"

"Jack…" Ianto interrupted him, wincing uncomfortably.

"No, hear me out. I just want you to know that. It doesn't have to mean anything. I just want you to understand how I feel. I'll probably never stop flirting with you and wanting to touch you, but that's all I'm doing. Whatever you decide, I will respect it. I won't do anything you don’t want."

Slowly, Ianto's gaze rose to meet his and for a breathless moment he held it. Jack could tell that they both were thinking about that one moment, many months ago, when Jack had approached Ianto with a similar proposal.

It had been a long day at the Hub and everyone else had already left for home. Ianto had been the last to stay behind in the hopes of putting the paperwork in order. Ever since he had started at Torchwood Three a couple of months earlier, he had committed himself to methodically archiving the gigantic backlog of case files, sometimes spending whole nights buried away in the basement of the Hub with nobody seeing or hearing him.

Of course, now in retrospect Jack knew what he really had been doing down there, but the fact that he had gotten all the archiving done and taken care of his cyber-girlfriend at the same time only added to Jack's admiration of his efficiency.

It had been late and Jack had been going through files. He'd felt frustrated and lonely, being cooped up like this. When he had watched his quiet archivist emerge from the basement, he hadn't been able to help but notice the smooth, elegant grace with which he performed every task, no matter how mundane.

When Ianto had come over to his office to inform him that he was finishing up for the night, Jack had leaned back in his chair slowly, rubbing his pen pensively along his chin while his eyes had brushed across Ianto's body suggestively. The other man no doubt had noticed that look for he had straightened up and born the scrutiny with dignity.

"Sir?" he had asked when Jack had failed to reply.

"Ianto, I've been thinking…"

"Yes, sir?"

"You should know that I'd really like to sleep with you some time."

For a brief moment, Ianto's calm mask had completely dropped. "Ex-excuse me, sir?" he had stammered, staring at him with wide eyes.

It had made Jack smile. "Don't worry. I'm just giving you notice. It doesn't have to mean anything, trust me. You won't get a pay raise if you decide to do it, I won't fire you if you don't. I just thought it'd be a good idea to clear up a couple of things between us. Can't hurt to ask. If you decide to take me up on my offer, you know where to find me." With that he had continued to write as if nothing had happened.

Ianto had stayed rooted to the spot for a long time and Jack had grinned inwardly, sensing the other man's intrigue and embarrassment. After a seemingly endless pause, Ianto had said reluctantly, "Sir…"

"Yes, Ianto?"

"I was just wondering… is there an expiration date on the offer?"

Jack had looked up with a sensual smile. "Take all the time you need, Ianto. I've got a lot of it, believe me. I won't be timing you with a stopwatch. Unless it involves something kinky, of course."

"That's good to know, sir." Ianto had replied, now back to his calm composure, and left.

Thinking about it now, Jack couldn't help but wince inwardly. That probably hadn't been one of his better attempts of seduction, but it had worked nonetheless. Eventually, Ianto had come into his arms and probably would still be in them now if he hadn't been such an idiot.

Ianto's polite cough brought him back to reality. "Well, thanks for letting me know," Ianto said, his voice sounding a bit hoarse.

"No problem." Needing to dab at the cut once more reminded him of his original intention. "So, about that plaster…"

Ianto's eyes flickered to his forehead to which he was still pressing his handkerchief. "Is it still bleeding? Let me see."

Reluctantly, Jack lowered the cloth when Ianto stepped up to him. He closed his eyes for a moment when he felt the familiar touch of Ianto's cool fingers on his skin.

"Hmm…" Ianto hummed as he looked at the cut.

"I hear blowing on it helps to make the booboo go away," Jack said teasingly.

"With all due respect, sir, right now the only blows I feel like dealing you aren't related to your cut."

Jack laughed. "You'd hit an injured man?"

Ianto looked at him sternly, but the mischief glittered in his eyes. "There's hardly an injury to speak of. I doubt you're in need of special care."

"Well, at least put something on it so I can stop pressing this damn hanky against it all the time."

"Lacerations on the scalp always tend to bleed a lot. But I suppose a bit of compression will do the trick." Ianto looked at him with slight suspicion. "Why didn't you ask Owen to do this?"

Jack groaned. "If you had spent the past half an hour with him you'd understand."

Ianto hid a smile. "Actually, I do. I'll be right back," he promised and disappeared though the bead curtain. A moment later he returned with a number of utensils from the First Aid kit in the back.

"Here, some iodine to help with the bleeding," he said while he dabbed something onto Jack's forehead.

"Ow! That stings!" Jack complained, trying to evade Ianto's hands.

Rolling his eyes, Ianto held his head firmly in place. "Seriously, Jack, for someone who can't die you're surprisingly whiney at times."

Not wanting to subject himself to further ridicule, Jack decided that it was wise to keep quiet for now and sit through the rest of Ianto's ministrations without comment.

Ianto finished by sticking a plaster on top of a dabber tightly pressed against the wound. "There, as good as new," he said as he stepped away from Jack.

Jack had to physically force himself to hold his hands down to keep himself from pulling Ianto close to prevent his retreat. It had felt good to have the other man so close. He watched Ianto pick up the different bandage wrappers and toss them in the nearby trashcan. When he reached for the bloody handkerchief though, he quickly snatched it from Ianto's grasp.

"No, don't throw it away," he said hoarsely.

Ianto blinked at him. "But it's completely disgusting. I doubt you'll ever get the blood out of it again. It's just a handkerchief. I can pick you up new ones at the shop tomorrow, if you're experiencing any shortage."

"That's not the point," Jack said softly, rubbing his hand across the embroidered emblem at the corner of the stained piece of cloth. "It's not just some commodity." He looked at Ianto. "Estelle gave it to me."

"Oh." Understanding dawned on the other man's face. Then his features softened. "I understand, Jack." He gently took the handkerchief from his grasp and looked at it. "Very skillful. Is this the crest of your unit?"

Jack nodded. "Yes… she gave it to me shortly before I had to leave her."

"And you still have it," Ianto whispered in awe, rubbing his thumb across the fine needlework. When he looked up, his eyes were full of emotion. It made Jack breathless for a second. "Do you have keepsakes of all your past lovers?"

"Yes…" It felt odd to admit it to the other man, but Jack realized that he could tell him this and Ianto would understand.

"What did you keep of me?" Ianto asked softly.

"I was hoping I didn't need a keepsake yet," Jack admitted, equally as softly.

Surprise lit up in Ianto's eyes. "So you'd always planned to return?"

"Always," Jack confirmed passionately.

They stared at each other with breathless tension. The handkerchief slid from Ianto's fingers unchecked and Jack involuntarily surged up until their chests were pressed together and their mouths only inches apart. Jack could feel Ianto's quickened breath brush across his skin and shuddered. He lifted one hand to place it onto the back of the other man's neck, gently guiding his mouth towards his own.

"Please, don't…" Ianto gasped.

Jack stopped. "Why not?"

Ianto squeezed his eyes shut. "It hurts too much."

"It doesn't have to hurt anymore. We can pick up where…"

"No," Ianto whispered. "We can't."

Groaning in frustration, Jack released the other man who quickly took a step back. Jack watched him smooth his hair and straighten his tie with shaking hands and could hardly fight the urge to launch forward and capture Ianto's mouth in a devouring kiss.

Just as he had won a very slim victory over his self-control, the front door opened. Jack felt like kicking something when he saw Jay step inside.

"Am I interrupting something?" Jay asked, looking at the two of them.

"Jay! What are you doing here?" Ianto blurted out, his hand shooting up to check his tie once more.

"It's almost half past seven. You were supposed to meet me twenty minutes ago."

"Oh God, I'm so sorry!" Ianto stammered, bending down to pick up the bloody handkerchief. "We've had a bit of an emergency and I had to help out Jack, er, the Captain." He showed Jay the hanky.

Jay's eyes narrowed to slits. "Don't you have a doctor for that?"

"Long story… and I need to take this to the cleaner now."

"The handkerchief? Now?"

"Er, yes. Like I said, long story. But I can do that tomorrow. We can leave now. Sorry. I'll get my coat." The bead curtain rattled as Ianto disappeared through it.

Both remaining men stared at each other in deliberative silence.

"Do you have some kind of chastity-alarm installed here that goes off every time I'm alone in a room with Ianto, or what?" Jack asked before he could stop himself.

"Up until now I didn't know I needed one," Jay retorted.

Another rattling of beads announced Ianto's return. Jack swallowed the perfect answer he already had on the tip of his tongue when he saw the look in Ianto's eyes. Jack sighed.

"I think we've started off on the wrong foot," he said as he walked towards Jay. "What do you say we all go to a pub some time. Just you, Ianto and me. That way you'll see that you've got nothing to fear from me."

Jay looked at him with clear suspicion. Yet he said smoothly, "Sure, why not. I'd be delighted."

"Great, then let's make a date for Friday if that's okay with you."

The look of gratitude in Ianto's eyes as he brushed past him rewarded him for his generous gesture, even though he felt like knocking his head into the wall at the prospect of having to spend an entire evening with Jay.

"See you Friday then. I'm sure it will be interesting," Jay said vaguely as he put a hand on Ianto's back and guided him out of the room.

 

*******************************

 

The rest of the week passed in a blur. They spent most of it working on a solution to the problem of returning the Kraktarian baby as it had proved to be rather difficult to convince the creature to not trash everything in his range every time they tried to release him from his cage.

At first, Jack had wanted to send the alien off including the cage and be done with it, but of course Gwen wouldn't hear about it and insisted that they needed to find a way to safely release the baby into his natural environment. Eventually, Ianto had come up with the idea of putting some sort of timer on the lock of the cage which would open the door after a certain period of time.

Tosh had then put in an all-nighter, eventually creating an appliance that would make this happen. By the time she had finally managed to install it successfully, having been interrupted several times by tentacles groping for her tools, the radars had picked up on the signature of a Kraktarian vessel approaching.

It had taken their joint effort to set up the transportation device in time to send their alien guest off before the Kraktarian scanners came into range. Jack still shuddered to think of the intergalactic incident and inevitable paperwork that would have resulted if they hadn't managed that in time.

Now it was Friday afternoon and Jack had sent everyone home for a well-deserved early weekend. Jack had stayed behind, as always, feeling the mounting frustration of never having a place to go to in order to just kick back and relax. He felt like he was constantly on call.

A glance at his wristwatch told him that it was time to get ready for his "date" with Ianto and Jay soon. He sighed. He'd run into Ianto's boyfriend several times this week and had always been a model of civility. Something about this man made him want to vocally spar with him constantly. But for Ianto's sake he was making an effort.

Working so closely with Ianto this week had been difficult too, of course. In the old days, the long hours wouldn't have been a problem since they usually would have ended in some nice, relaxing after-work sex.

They probably would have taken a shower together, exchanging soothing massages and slow kisses under the warm spray of water before retiring to his berth. There they would have spent the rest of their short night lazily exploring each other's bodies and bringing each other off until Ianto would have fallen into an exhausted sleep.

But that was impossible now. Suggesting it had been on the tip of his tongue several times, but his relationship with Ianto was still so fragile that he had feared that even a playful proposal would have resulted in yet another falling out. So he had tried to treat Ianto merely as a friend and colleague, as difficult as that had been for him.

Heaving another sigh, Jack rose from his chair and went over to the manhole. He had half an hour to shower, shave and change if he wanted to make it to the pub in time, so he'd better hurry.

He completed his task with the quick efficiency of someone who was used to doing it like this for years. When he had first arrived in the 19th century, it had taken him ages to get used to shaving with these antediluvian razors. It had felt to him as if he was scraping his skin with a glass shard and was only one step away from beating his food to death with a club. Later, they had finally invented electric razors but by then he had gotten so used to doing it like this that he didn't want to take to yet another prehistoric tool.

Pleased with his freshly groomed and shaven reflection in the mirror, Jack applied just a touch of his eau de cologne which he knew Ianto liked and put on a fresh shirt. His wardrobe didn't leave a lot of room for variety, but he didn't mind that. Out of sheer habit, he stuck his gun into the holster of his belt. Then he threw on his great-coat and was ready to go.

The pub was as full as could be expected on a Friday night, but thanks to his flirting skills he had managed to get one of the waitresses to reserve a table for him. He took a seat where he could see the entrance and waited for the others to arrive.

A couple of minutes later, Jack could make out the familiar silhouette of Ianto through the milky pane of the door. He saw him pause when a second figure joined him, undoubtedly Jay, who put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in to him, either to kiss him or whisper something in his ear. Then the door pushed open and they both entered.

The weather had gotten rather windy over the past few days. It was still surprisingly mild for this time of the year, but the battering wind that gained force as it came across the bay made it necessary to dress up warmly before leaving the house. Accordingly, both men were wrapped in coats and scarves.

Jay still had his hand on Ianto's shoulder as he came into the pub. He let his gaze slowly wander around the room as if he was making a mental map of it. Jay's eyes finally settled on Jack and he nodded in acknowledgement of his presence. Then he turned to Ianto and helped him out of his coat.

Jack felt a painful squeeze in his chest when he took in the sight of Ianto, casually dressed in jeans, shirt and a woolen slipover. The outfit still looked more formal than most of the other people around, but to Jack it was a foreign, yet endearing vision. Suddenly, it made him wonder what Ianto looked like when he was at home, kicking his shoes off after a long day, ready to relax.

As if sensing his wistful scrutiny, Ianto looked around the room searchingly until he caught sight of Jack and lifted his hand with a slow smile. He walked towards him while Jay hung up their coats.

"To be honest, I wasn't really sure you'd show up," Ianto admitted as he pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Why shouldn't I? This beats hanging around the Hub any day."

"Well, you could have gone out, or something," Ianto suggested.

"Yes, maybe I could have," Jack replied vaguely, suddenly realizing that he in fact hadn't been outside of the Hub for fun once since his return. "Maybe I will later."

"Harkness," Jay said, towering over them both.

Jack didn't bother to inform the other man that he could call him by his first name as he got up to shake the offered hand. "Telford," he replied, equally non-committal. Jack took the chance to size him up. Unlike Ianto, Jay was wearing a jacket, but since he had shunned a tie and the first three buttons of his shirt where undone, revealing some of his smooth chest, he seemed just as laid back as everyone else.

When Jack wanted to sit back down again, he felt Jay holding on to his shoulder.

"Do you mind if I sit there?" Jay asked when Jack gave him a confused look.

Jack blinked. "Uh, sure," he said and stepped aside, giving up his seat for the other man. He sat down on the empty chair, slightly disgruntled at the fact that he was actually further away from Ianto now than before.

Stretching out languidly, Jay extended his long legs under the table. As he moved, his jacket slipped a bit to the side and revealed something that looked like a shoulder holster to Jack.

"Is that a holster you're wearing?" Jack asked, tensing up slightly.

Jay stopped mid-stretch. "What?"

"That leather strap across your shoulder there," Jack pointed out.

Lifting a mocking eyebrow, Jay grinned and reached into his jacket. Jack had to restrain himself to keep his hand from twitching towards his gun. "Are you checking me out, Mr. Harkness?" Jay crooned as he pulled out a cell phone and placed it on the table. "I like to have the phone handy when it rings."

Suddenly, Jack felt really foolish and that feeling was only increased when his eyes flickered to the side and caught the expression on Ianto's face. "I was just surprised to see you wear a holster, is all," Jack defended himself.

"You're wearing one, too," Jay pointed out, gesturing to Jack's belt.

Jack had to suppress the urge to pull his coat more tightly around his body. Instead, he crossed his legs in a pointedly casual gesture. "Well, I'm expected to. I'm always on call."

"Of course. You never know when the city council might be calling."

The bored, slightly mocking tone annoyed Jack, but he forced himself to let it slide.

"I'm going to go ahead and fetch us some drinks," Ianto suggested, obviously sensing the tension between the two men.

"That's a good idea, baby," Jay said, not taking his eyes off Jack.

Ianto hesitated for a moment. Then he asked, "Water, as usual, Jack?".

He wasn't really surprised that Ianto remembered his usual order. He had a skill for that. Jack shook his head. "No thanks, Ianto. I think I'll go for a pint of beer this time." And then, casting Ianto a secret smile, he added, "I don't plan on traveling any time soon."

Understanding the implication, Ianto blushed a little and turned to find the bar.

"So tell me, Mr. Harkness," Jay drawled as soon as Ianto was gone. "What is it you do exactly?"

Jack frowned, unsure of how much Ianto had told him. "Don't you ever talk with Ianto about that?"

"Oh, of course. He says you're a special task force that gets called in to deal with certain situations."

Jack relaxed. "Well, that answers it then."

"Do you mind if I smoke?" Jay asked suddenly, reaching into his jacket without really waiting for an answer. He lit himself a cigarette and blew a puff of smoke in Jack's direction while sticking the crumpled pack back into his breast pocket. He kept the lighter in his hand and started spinning it slowly on the scratched up surface of the table.

"Well, it explains why Ianto often has to stay late for work, misses appointments and doesn't really like talking about his job much," Jay continued. "I'm still wondering what kind of a boss can afford to be gone for months without giving his team notice, though. Or a lover for that matter."

Jack balled his hands into fists under the table. "Ianto told you that?"

Drawing on his cigarette, Jay gave him a lazy smile from beneath his hand. "It didn't take much to conclude that. I knew that he was nursing a broken heart and it wasn't that hard to figure out that it was you he was hurting over. Eventually he let it slip that he didn’t understand why you'd disappeared without a word."

"I see." Jack didn't particularly feel like explaining his reasons and motivation to this guy, so he just shrugged and said, "I can't really tell you much. It was an important mission and it was strictly confidential."

"Hmmm, a man of mystery," Jay hummed, watching him closely as he twirled the lighter on the tabletop. "I imagine that must be a handy excuse to avoid personal questions."

Jack stiffened at the implication. "I've got nothing to hide from Ianto," he said with conviction.

"Is that so?" The tip of the cigarette glowed in the dim light of the pub. "No dark secrets in your past? No skeletons hidden in the closet, safely tucked away and hopefully forgotten? You're a soldier, are you not? Don't you ever find yourself regretting things you did while you were on a mission?"

"Some things need to be done."

"Of course. So, am I to understand that you've been to war? What war would that be? You seem a bit young for Vietnam. So which tours have you served? The Gulf? Afghanistan?"

Feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the way this conversation was heading, Jack shifted in his chair and said stiffly, "That's classified, I'm afraid." He regretted saying that the moment he saw the gleam of Jay's teeth as he bared them in a sarcastic smile.

"Let me guess: you'd tell me but then you'd have to kill me," Jay said mockingly.

"For you I could skip the first part," Jack mumbled under his breath.

A soft laugh was the surprising reply. "Now, you see, that is something I can believe. That is the Jack Harkness you don't like to talk about." He pulled the ashtray close and stubbed out his cigarette.

"I was a different man then," Jack said darkly, not really wanting to discuss this further. "For someone who's never been in the military you spend an awful lot of time thinking about the moral implications of it."

"I'm interested in the depths of humanity. How far we're able to go when there's nothing left to lose. We all have our little secrets, don't you think, Mr. Harkness?"

Before Jack had a chance to reply, Ianto returned to the table, balancing three glasses in his hands. "Here's your beer, Jack," he said, putting the glass down in front of him. Jack accepted it gratefully and immediately took a large gulp from it. He watched Ianto put a glass of water down in front of Jay before resuming his seat with a glass of cider.

"I'm not a big drinker," Jay said with a shrug when he noticed Jack's look, grabbing his glass and lifting it to his lips. He hesitated just the fraction of a second before taking a small sip.

Jack frowned. The gesture had seemed awfully familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Did you have a nice chat?" Ianto asked without addressing anyone in particular.

Jack cut Jay a sidelong glance, wondering what he'd say, but when he made no attempt to answer the question, Jack just said, "We were eagerly awaiting your return."

"That's right, baby," Jay agreed, leaning in for a quick kiss.

Ianto scrunched up his face when the other man pulled back. "God, I hate it when you smoke," he complained softly

"Sorry," Jay said, not sounding sorry at all.

There was an uncomfortable silence. Jack cleared his throat. "So, uh, wanna tell me how you two met?"

Again, Jay stayed silent and Jack felt a twinge of annoyance, but he fought it down, reminding himself that he was only here for Ianto and at least he seemed to be pleased at being here and answering Jack's questions.

"Oh, it wasn't anything special," Ianto said with a soft smile. "I was lining up at the coffee shop to buy the beans I need for my special mélange. I wasn't really paying attention, just waiting for my order to be completed. Then when I left the shop, Jay was suddenly behind me. Apparently I had accidentally grabbed his bag on the way out. We struck up a conversation, he invited me for a coffee…" Ianto looked at Jay with a shy smile and Jack clenched his jaw involuntarily. "He said he'd been watching me for a while, wondering why I always looked so sad, that it'd made him wish desperately to make me smile."

"Romantic," Jack mumbled, taking a large sip from his beer to wet his throat which had suddenly gotten dry. He was grateful that Jay didn't seem to feel inclined to add his own version of the story. Jack had his doubts whether he'd be able to stomach them getting all lovey-dovey.

This brief conversation was followed by another spell of silence which made Jack peek at his wristwatch, wondering how long he'd have to endure this until it would be acceptable to excuse himself.

"By the way," Ianto started up again in an attempt to keep the conversation going. "It may not seem like it, but the two of you actually have a lot in common."

Jack noticed that Jay looked just as surprised as he undoubtedly did.

"We do?" the other man asked.

"Other than our startling good looks and captivating personalities?" Jack quipped.

Ianto blushed. "Well, it's hard to explain. I just sometimes get this feeling when I'm looking at something Jay does that just seems so familiar… I don't know. Maybe I'm just imagining things."

Jay gave Ianto an odd look. Jack couldn't blame him. Nobody liked to be told that he reminded his lover of his ex.

"Oh! One example!" Ianto exclaimed. "When you go to bed, you always put all your essentials right next to you on the nightstand. Everything from your watch to your wallet, keys and mobile. As if you expect to need to get ready at a minute's notice."

"Old habit," Jack said, unconcerned.

"I doubt that's enough to make us want to become best friends," Jay mumbled, taking another sip from his glass which he'd never really let go of the entire time. "A legendary war hero and a common insurance agent really don't have that much in common."

The repeated taunts finally brought Jack over the edge and he felt his anger flare up. "You know, Telford," he said, turning to the other man. "I didn't come here to talk business, but since you've mentioned it… I was wondering if you could help me out with something here. I've been thinking about getting an AD&D plan for my team. Do you think that would make any sense?"

Jay looked at him for a moment. Then he said, "Depends on your existing coverage and whether or not the company would be willing to extend it. Quite possibly, your current benefits already include a plan for accidental death and dismemberment."

"Okay. And do you recommend a P&I policy on top of that?"

There was a much longer pause and for a brief, irrational moment Jack thought that he'd managed to expose Ianto's oh so perfect boyfriend as a fraud. But then Jay put on his annoyingly condescending smile and said,  "Well, unless you plan on becoming a very different kind of captain anytime soon, I doubt it'd be very useful. I couldn't think of any situation where you'd to be in need of insurance against third party liabilities and expenses arising from owning ships or operating ships as principals."

"I guess not." Again, Jack found himself feeling stupid in the presence of the other man. He didn't appreciate this becoming a habit.

"Jack, can I talk to you for a moment?" Ianto said in the middle of his self-flagellation.

"Uh sure," Jack replied absent-mindedly as he got up and followed Ianto across the room to the lavatories.

"What's going on?" Ianto asked straight out as soon as they came to a halt.

"What? What do you mean?"

Ianto glowered at him. "Don't you think I've noticed the open hostility you've been displaying the entire evening?"

Jack looked at Ianto, dumbstruck. "You're asking me that? What about him?" He felt childish trying to shift the blame like that, but the fact that Ianto deemed it necessary to berate him alone upset him.

"Oh come on, Jack, Jay's been perfectly civil the entire evening whereas you've tried your best to make him look bad."

Pressing his lips together, Jack decided that arguing wouldn't help. It was true, Jay had timed his caustic barbs perfectly for when Ianto hadn't been present. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," he said glumly.

"Why did you suggest it then if you don't want to spend time with me?" The hurt in Ianto's voice was undeniable.

Jack took a deep breath. "I want to spend time with you, but if he comes with the package I'm afraid I have to abstain for the time being." The look in Ianto's eyes felt like a punch in the guts.

"Fine," Ianto whispered brokenly. "You can leave, you know. I won't take offense. No need wasting your evening on something you hate. Just… I'll be right back." With that, Ianto disappeared into the bathroom.

Feeling angry with himself and the situation, Jack grudgingly stalked back to their table where Jay was already waiting, a furious expression on his face.

"What was that about, Harkness?"

"None of your business," Jack replied harshly.

"Oh, it's my business all right. If you upset him and he lies there like a cold fish in my bed tonight, it's very much my business."

Jack stared at the other man in disgust. "Is that your biggest concern?"

"It certainly is the biggest asset I have over you." He flashed him a noncommittal smile.

It took every ounce of self-restraint Jack had to keep himself from breaking the other man's jaw right there and then. "Look. I already told you you've got nothing to fear from me," he ground out.

Jay's smile was downright predatory now. "But I see the way you look at him. Like you wish it was you he'd smile at like that."

They stared at each other challengingly, as if they were both waiting for the other one to make a move that would warrant an exchange of punches. They didn't even break eye contact when Ianto returned to the table and sat down quietly.

Only reluctantly, Jack took his eyes off his adversary to look at Ianto. It was obvious that he was upset and Jack was longing to ask if he was okay, but before he had a chance Ianto said, "Jack has to leave now."

He sensed the rejection and it stung. "Yeah, I'd better go."

Jay's face was perfectly calm and pleasant again. "That's too bad. I haven't had this much fun since Wales beat New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup."

Ianto shot him a confused look. "You must be confusing things. That has never happened."

Jay hesitated for a moment, then he said with a shrug, "Guess that makes this a unique experience." To Jack he said, "Well, the pleasure was all mine. Bottoms up, Mr. Harkness." With that, he grabbed his glass of water, still barely touched, and lifted it expectantly.

Reluctantly, Jack picked up his own glass and clinked it with the other man. He didn't feel at all like drinking with this guy. Very slowly and under the watchful eyes of both Jay and Ianto, he guided the glass to his lips.

On a whim, he let the glass hover for a moment. The sudden notion of a foreign aroma invaded his nose. He couldn't really place it, wasn't even sure whether it really was there, but when he saw the peculiar gleam in Jay's eyes he put down the glass again and said, "Actually, I think I've had enough for tonight."

To prevent any drama from unfolding due to his refusal to drink with Ianto's boyfriend, Jack quickly rose from his chair and stepped away from the table. "I'll see you on Monday," he said to Ianto before turning around and leaving the pub.

 

*******************************

 

Sunday was slower than usual. Maybe it was the fact that Jack just wasn't used to spending the weekends alone in the Hub anymore that he felt like crawling up the walls at the end of one long, tedious day of nothing to do.

Friday had ended rather abruptly with the date turning into the fiasco that he had secretly been expecting. It was probably a good thing that he wasn't going to see Ianto before Monday. That way they both had time to cool off.

After Jack had left the pub, he had debated briefly whether he should go cruising for a distraction, but somehow he'd felt so angry and frustrated that he hadn't felt up to it after all. And as if life had decided to mock him, the sky had suddenly opened up and it had started raining buckets which had only confirmed his resolve to go back to the Hub.

But then Saturday hadn't brought much change. The weather had still been depressing, the files had still as been boring to read as ever and the radar had persistently refused to show anything more interesting than an approaching windstorm which had gathered across the Atlantic Ocean.

After yet another round of moping and eating cold pizza from the day before, Jack had finally grabbed his coat, turned up the collar against the cold wind and hurled himself out into the nightlife of Cardiff where he had soon met someone in similar need of some quick, meaningless sex.

The encounter had left him with the brief satisfaction of sexual release, but as soon as his breathing had returned to normal and he had tucked himself in again, he'd been overcome with a feeling of emptiness that he since hadn't been able to shake off. He'd bought his acquaintance a drink and then disappeared though the backdoor without looking back.

Now it was Sunday and Jack still felt empty, bored and frustrated. The prospect of going through another week like this held no joy for him. He sighed heavily and put his muddy boots on his desk. The mental image of Ianto scolding him for this flashed through his mind briefly before he managed to wave it away like an annoying fly.

He glanced at the bottom drawer of his desk, debating a shot of Bourbon, but then he decided that it was too early for that. He knew something might still come up and he couldn't go about dealing with it reeking of booze.

As if on cue, the main door rolled back with a hiss. Jack craned his neck to see who the arrival was. He saw Owen stroll into the Hub, hands buried in the pockets of his jacket. He immediately spotted Jack at his desk and lifted one hand in a casual greeting.

"Hi. The day was a bit slow so I thought I'd come in and finish the autopsy reports that are still backlogged," Owen said once he had arrived at the door to Jack's office.

Even though he felt grateful for the unexpected company, Jack leaned back in his chair and said in a somewhat stern voice, "You know, when I give you the weekend off I expect you to use it recreationally and actually try to relax."

"I could say the same to you," Owen replied, unfazed by the reproach. "Don't you ever leave this place?"

"Yeah, actually I do!" Jack wasn't so sure why he felt the need to justify himself.

"Well, if you're so concerned about my stress relief you can give me Wednesday afternoon off instead. I've got tickets for a Tarantino double-feature." Not waiting for Jack's reply, he turned and said over his shoulder, "If you need me, I'll be in the autopsy bay."

Jack watched the other man slink away and sighed at the feeling of boredom bearing down on him once more. If only 21st century television wasn't so bad he could at least get a TV installed in his room.

Twenty minutes later, Jack gave up his attempt to work and rose from his chair, stretching his aching muscles. He saw Owen move around in the autopsy room, now wearing his white lab coat. He was engrossed in some report, absent-mindedly chewing on a pencil while he leafed through the pages.

Owen looked up when he heard Jack appear at the entrance. "Yes?"

Jack shrugged. "Nothing. Just wondering what you're doing."

The look Owen gave him was the one he usually reserved for extremely daft and slow people. "Uh, going through reports, like I said I would?"

"I can see that." Jack felt a little foolish, seeking the doctor's company like that. "I was going to grab a coffee. Want one, too?"

Now Owen was looking at him as if he had sprouted an extra head. "Uh sure. Is Ianto here, too?"

"No, actually. I thought I'd go ahead and make it."

"Oh God…"

"I know how to use the coffeemaker, you know," Jack said, feeling slightly touchy all of a sudden.

Owen lifted his hands in defeat. "Okay, okay. No milk, lots of sugar please."

Pleased to have a task, Jack took the stairs until he reached the small tea kitchen, Ianto's domain. Jack took a moment to look around, trying to get an overview of the room's structure. He hadn't been here in ages, it seemed.

He went through a couple of cupboards before he managed to locate the tin with the coffee, only to find to his dismay that it was full of beans instead of powder. His search for filter paper was fruitless as well.

Cursing himself, Jack realized that he'd never bothered to pay attention when Ianto made coffee. He knew that in the early 20th century or so, people had started filtering the coffee grind through paper bags to make coffee, but quite obviously Ianto wasn't one of them.

He turned towards the coffeemaker. It wasn't the kind he remembered where you just dumped the powder in on one side, water on the other, pressed the button and waited. It had actually cost the office a pretty penny.

He lifted the lid on top to peek inside. That didn't really give him a clue on how to operate the machine either. There was a compartment where something could be filled in, perhaps the beans?, and a water tank at the back.

Tentatively, Jack pressed the on-button. Immediately, the machine started hissing and blinking and Jack quickly switched it off again. He swore under his breath. He could operate spaceships of any origin and build, he knew how to fieldstrip, reassemble and use hundreds of ranged weapons, he could rewire on-board units to overwrite existing security programs and knew the construction plans of things by heart that weren't even invented yet, but somehow none of them helped him make coffee now.

In a desperate attempt to find something to make coffee with and spare himself Owen's mockery, Jack dug into the darkest depths of the cupboard and finally unearthed a small, long expired tin of instant coffee.

As he pulled it out with a whoop of triumph, another small packet came along with it and dropped to the floor. Curiously, Jack picked it up. It was a small gold-green bag, the opening folded in several times and sealed with sticky tape. He turned it around. On the label, in Ianto's neat handwriting, was written: _Jack's Special Blend_.

Jack stared at it for a moment. He had always known Ianto took great pride in his coffee. The one he made specially for him whenever he requested some was always excellent. Yet seeing this now made his throat feel tight. The way the packet was wrapped and sealed suggested that Ianto hadn't expected to use it anytime soon and that felt doubly bitter.

Before he could dwell on the subject any longer, Jack thrust the packet back into the cupboard and slammed the door shut. He quickly boiled some water and then spooned the instant coffee into two cups before filling them. He tried his coffee and grimaced at the taste. He dumped a lot of sugar into both mugs before carrying it downstairs to the autopsy room.

Owen accepted the mug with a distracted nod, taking a sip from it while he finished writing something down. He froze and cast Jack a bemused look, but didn't comment on the quality of the coffee. He turned his attention to the report again.

They both sat in silence for a while, with Owen going through his reports and Jack just sitting there perched on the edge of the table and looking around. After a couple more minutes of this, Owen tossed his pencil down with a groan and looked at Jack.

"Okay, what is it, Harkness?"

Jack looked at him, frowning in confusion. "What's what?"

"There must be a reason why you're looming around here, literally breathing down my neck." Owen looked at him, eyes narrowing. "Is there something you want to talk about? Because if there is I'd rather you get it over with instead of circling me like a shark."

"I don't…" Jack stopped. Now that Owen mentioned it, maybe there was something on his mind. "Actually, there's one thing bothering me and I think you're the only one who can help me out there."

Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Owen leaned back in his chair. "Okay, shoot."

"I was wondering about your opinion of Jay."

"Oh God!" Owen exclaimed, throwing his arms up in a dramatic gesture. "This has got to be one of the Circles of Hell. The curry I had last night wasn't good and I died of massive food poisoning and went to hell and now I have to listen to my boss going on about his love life."

"My love life has nothing to do with this," Jack said, feeling a little irked. "You're seriously the only one I can ask since all the girls are completely smitten with this guy and Ianto quite obviously won't be objective either."

Owen sighed, aversion written all over his face. "All right. What do you want to know exactly?"

"Well, what do you think of him? Any particular impression?"

Owen thought about the question for a moment. "Well. Obviously, the girls adore him. Ianto included, by the way. I haven't really had much to do with him, to be honest. A couple of times he's tagged along when we all went to a pub or something, and that one Christmas party, but other than that… Besides, whenever that happened he was usually crowded by the girls and I didn't really get to talk to him much."

"Okay. But you still must have some impression of him."

Owen shrugged. "He's slick. Slick fellow. Always says the right thing at the right time. He's polite and friendly, pays for the round when it's his turn, seems to give Ianto enough attention to keep him happy. Not much else to say."

"You never had the impression that he wasn't who he seemed to be?" It felt odd saying the suspicion out loud.

"Like what?"

Jack made a vague motion with his hand. "I don't know. There's something weird about this guy."

A sneer appeared on the other man's lips. "You mean weird as in 'Everybody adores him but me' weird?"

"No!" Jack contradicted forcefully. "It's more than that!" He hesitated briefly before admitting, "Obviously he's a dick towards me since he thinks I want to get into Ianto's pants again…"

"Which you do."

"Yes, but that's beside the point! Fact is there's something beyond that. It's not just that he isn't particularly friendly or charming with me, but more than that. I can't quite put my finger on it."

Owen lifted one eyebrow. "Of course it has nothing to do with the fact that he's screwing Ianto's brains out."

The sound of that made Jack cringe inwardly. "I'm not jealous," Jack clarified. "Annoyed, maybe, that Ianto seems to be so persistently monogamous, but not jealous. I'd be more than happy to share."

"With Mr. Perfect Dickhead?"

The thought made Jack falter. "Okay, maybe not necessarily him in particular, but in general."

Owen laughed. "Well, that's easy for you to say as long as it stays a hypothetical situation." Ignoring Jack's scowl, he continued lightheartedly, "Actually, you're right. That's a very good point right there. Why would Jay go out with Ianto?"

Jack frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on. Look at them! Despite being somewhat boring, I doubt Jay has any troubles finding dates. Why would someone like him, dashingly handsome and popular with the ladies… a bit like me, go out with someone like Ianto? What does anyone see in our anal retentive, slightly repressed yet eerily efficient coffee enthusiast?"

For some reason, those comments gave Jack the strong urge to defend Ianto and his obvious appeal, but he managed to hold his tongue. "What about me then?" he asked instead with a carefully controlled voice.

"You see something in everyone!" Owen dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "And you'll fuck anything that moves."

"So what if I do! Doesn't mean I care for everyone!" Jack snapped before he could stop himself.

Owen gave him a curious glance which made Jack feel all awkward. He cleared his throat. "He's no good for Ianto," he insisted stubbornly. "I don't trust him."

Heaving a tormented sigh, Owen said, "Okay, obviously he did or said something that brought this on. So, spill it, Harkness. I'm tired of pretending to be interested, so let's speed this up."

Jack grimaced at him. "I knew you'd be just the right guy to pour my heart out to," he said sarcastically.

"If you're starting to cry I'm so out of here," Owen fired back. "Working with you has given me a certain tolerance for these subjects, but even I have my limits."

That made Jack chuckle for moment, but Owen's prompting, lightly annoyed expression made him sober up again immediately. "Telford likes to give the impression of being the thoughtful, considerate boyfriend. Yet every time I was alone with him he said things you wouldn't say about your partner."

Owen quirked an eyebrow. "Such as?"

"He talked about Ianto like a dirty whore!" Jack said heatedly. "He was practically taunting me with their sex life."

Owen rolled his eyes. "Oh, of course. That's something you'd never do."

Jack felt the irresistible urge to walk around and gesture wildly. So he did. "Look, I brag about a lot of things, but not about how my lovers lie still and think of England." He stopped and gave Owen a challenging look. "If I was to brag about having sex with Ianto I'd say something like… I still have the scars on my back from where his fingernails clawed into me when he came, or something."

For a moment, Owen stared at him, unblinking. Then he cleared his throat and said, "Okay, just for the record: that is something I'd classify as 'too much information', thank you very much." He shuddered ostentatiously. "Not a mental image I need. Not at all." After another strengthening breath, Owen said, "But you're right. Nobody would brag about that. Did he say anything else?"

Jack considered the question for a moment. "Well, he seemed to be inordinately interested in my military records."

"How so?"

"He kept asking me questions about my rank, my postings… He made a couple of snide remarks about my uniform."

Owen smirked. "Can you blame him? I doubt GQ will be running an article on period military anytime soon." Before Jack could butt in to defend his fashion sense, Owen quickly went on, "So let me sum this up for you: you think there's something fishy about Ianto's bloke, but you don't really know what. But it's definitely not jealousy. In fact you don't really care who Ianto is fucking as long as it's not this guy."

"Sounds about right."

"You know, I may not be the best person to give relationship advice. After all, the longest working relationship I ever had was with my Playstation 2 and that was only because the PS3 took so long to come out. But did it ever occur to you that perhaps the reason why Ianto isn't happily throwing himself back into your arms is exactly that attitude? Think about it."

The sudden piece of tangible advice coming from the other man surprised Jack. "So you're saying he'd actually want me to be jealous and possessive?" he asked, incredulous. "You 21st century humans!"

Owen shrugged, unfazed. "Well, that's who he is and how he works." He spun his pencil around between his fingers. "As for this Jay fellow, if you ask me, he's just trying to rile you up. Maybe he thinks if you lose it around him it'll fortify his position and alienate Ianto."

"So, what do you suggest I should do?"

The pen halted in Owen's hand. "Not sure. Talk to Ianto, I guess. And don't beat up his boyfriend. In my experience that always makes things worse."

Jack nodded, recognizing the wisdom of this. Yet he felt a little discontented with his options. "There's gotta be something else I can do."

Leaning back in his chair, Owen put his feet up on the autopsy table. "The smart approach would be to just stay out of it. The Torchwood approach would be 24-7 surveillance."

Jack frowned. "I can hardly break into Ianto's apartment and install cameras! If he ever found out, he'd never forgive me."

"Well, then try and find out as much as you can with the resources available to you."

Rubbing his chin slowly, Jack mulled over the suggestion. Then his face brightened up. "You know… that's a good idea actually!" he exclaimed before he turned around and bounded up the stairs. At the door he stopped and yelled over his shoulder, "Thanks!"

"Next time you need advice don't hesitate to go somewhere else," Owen mumbled in reply and grabbed his clipboard once more.

 

*******************************

 

A couple of hours later, Jack put down his tools and yawned heartily. In front of him was a mess of electronic devices which he had dug up from the archives, then taken apart and rewired. He felt a bit guilty having phoned Tosh at least five times over the past couple of hours to ask for her advice.

Eventually she had suggested exasperatedly that she would come over and do it for him, but he had quickly declined, not wanting to completely ruin the rest of her weekend. So he had figured out the rest of it alone and he was quite pleased with the results.

At first, following the conversation with Owen, Jack had tried to go through the CCTV archive some more to find anything useful. That had soon proven to be a dead-end because of the sheer volume of material, as well as the fact that none of the recordings had sound, so he had spent most of his time fast-forwarding through seemingly endless silent conversations. There had been the occasional kiss here or there, but otherwise it had all been pretty useless.

After the third wasted hour of skipping though worthless footage, Jack had decided that something needed to be changed. Not only was this frustrating for him and a hindrance to his efforts of finding out more about Jay Telford, but it also made him realize that better CCTV technology was needed for the Hub.

A search through the archive had soon provided him with the necessary equipment. He had recalled the retrieval of some alien technology a couple of months ago that he was familiar with. Thanks to Ianto's competent filing he had managed to find the devices in question quickly and moved straight on to configuring them for his purposes.

Now all he needed to do was place a transmitter into each room he wanted to put under surveillance and it should supply him with the necessary soundtrack to the mute CCTV images. He only had three devices and was definitely going to place one of them in the visitor's center. He could easily excuse this with heightened security measures as it was the first intersection with strangers who wanted to get into the Hub.

The second one would go into the detainment cells. After all, it might at some point become necessary to listen in on conversations going on between prisoners. He really couldn't say why they hadn't thought about that before. It made perfect sense, so if anyone noticed they wouldn't question his motives. Regardless of that, he decided not to mention the increased surveillance unless he had to.

Technically, he didn’t even need the last one, but since he had it, Jack had decided to put it in his own office. It supported his assertion that they needed to increase security. Any intruder would gain access to sensitive files and the archive via his office. In addition to that, it made him feel less guilty about the whole thing if he made himself subject to surveillance as well.

Pleased with the day's achievements, Jack grabbed the three devices and installed them according to plan. Then he went to his quarters to spend the remainder of the night resting. It was already the wee hours of the morning by the time his back hit the sheets. As always, he didn't feel tired at all.

Crossing his arms behind his neck, Jack stared up at the gray metal ceiling, riddled with clanking and grumbling pipes, and was once more overcome with loathing for this place. Somehow the only times he could stand lying here was with a soft body covering his own.

Of course that thought inadvertently brought up images of Ianto being that body, given that he'd never taken a one-night-stand into the Hub for obvious reasons. And what a good cover Ianto made… Jack felt himself harden at the thought. Before he could stop himself, his fingers started ghosting across his naked chest until they slipped past the waistband of his slacks and took a hold of his hardening flesh.

He started stroking himself slowly and without intent, just idly enjoying the sensation, while he treated himself to the mental images of Ianto lying on top of him, his breath tickling down his chest as he was recovering from his orgasm.

It occurred to him that he hadn't appreciated these moments enough when they had happened. Eventually, he'd always pushed Ianto off him and gotten up to hit the shower and by the time he'd returned, Ianto usually had been dressed or maybe even gone altogether. It had worked out perfectly for Jack since post-coital small talk usually bored him. He'd always found one good climax infinitely more relaxing than a couple of hours of rest and coming with Ianto had been doubly so.

But now that this privilege remained beyond his grasp, Jack couldn't help but think whether Telford appreciated Ianto the same way he did. Jack felt his erection wither in his hand. The images that flashed through his mind now weren't enticing at all. He imagined Ianto lying underneath Telford, stiff as a board, while Telford used him for his own pleasure, grunting like a pig until he threw back his head and came.

Jack shuddered in disgust. Those images just didn't seem real. Of all the times he and Ianto had had sex, Ianto had never shown any tendencies to be a passive or reluctant lover. As a matter of fact, Jack would go so far as to consider that one of the greatest appeals of sleeping with Ianto. The man was so incredibly responsive that merely rubbing a hand across the smooth skin of his stomach became a pleasurable experience. Quite a lot of times, Jack had gotten off on the sounds alone Ianto made when he came.

Groaning, Jack rolled off his bed and got up. This was no good. Maybe a cold shower would clear his head.

 

*******************************

 

Despite his intention of talking to Ianto, Jack made it a point to not rush for the other man as soon as he entered the office. He expected Telford to turn up again, which seemed to be his habit, and this time Jack didn't want to risk an interruption. So when Ianto entered his office with a steaming cup of coffee, Jack kept his eyes fixed on the screen, merely acknowledging the other man's presence with a nod.

From the way Ianto kept hovering around in his office, nestling with files, Jack could tell that the other man expected him to involve him in some kind of conversation. All the more reason to avoid it now, Jack thought. He wanted to catch Ianto unaware and give him less time to think about his answers.

Surreptitiously, he watched Ianto leave his office in defeat, moving on to completing his chores in the Hub before returning to his desk at the visitor's center. After a quick glance at his wristwatch and a stealthy look around to make sure he was alone, Jack switched on the monitor of the CCTV.

The picture flickered before it gave a clear image of Ianto's desk. It could just as easily have been a freeze frame since Ianto wasn't really moving much, merely looking through emails. Jack reached for the small silver box beneath the monitor and adjusted the newly installed receiver. The faint clicking of the keyboard confirmed that it was working all right.

Leaving it on in the background, Jack concentrated his attention on the urgent missive from the Secretary-General Ianto had put on his desk earlier. Thirty minutes later, the sound of talking made him look at the monitor again and he saw Telford standing in the room, casually leaning on the desk and looming over Ianto.

"I met your mailman on the way in again," Telford said, tossing a pack of letters on the desk. "I get the impression the worse the weather, the lazier he gets."

"Thanks," Ianto said, paying no attention to the mail as he continued looking at the computer screen.

"For a tourism center you sure get a lot of mail," Telford pointed out.

Ianto glanced at him briefly. "Yes, we do."

"Lots of junk mail, inquiries for cheap hotels and touristy points of interest?"

"Uh-huh."

"And what about the mail for the office _down there_?"

Ianto turned in his chair to face the other man and sighed. "Jay…"

"I know, I know. You can't talk about that. I was just curious, is all." With that, the other man leaned across the desk to capture Ianto's mouth in a deep kiss. "Hmm… I didn't get to do this enough last night," he murmured hoarsely once he'd pulled back. "You fell asleep on me."

Ianto blushed. "I was tired…"

"That's okay. You can make it up to me tonight."

"I'll try. I might need to stay in late though. There have been some suspicious readings… never mind."

Jack, who had been listening in with clenched fists until now, woke from his torpor and glanced at the papers Ianto had put on his desk this morning. Ianto had already compiled the readings from the weather radar.

The windstorm that had been showing for a couple of days now had gained formidable dimensions and was heading straight for the mainland. It was expected to make landfall soon. This could mean nothing, or it could mean another disturbance of the Rift. Jack grimaced, realizing that Ianto actually had a point and wasn't just making up excuses.

He realized suddenly that he had missed most of the conversation that had followed Ianto's announcement.

"Well, give me a call then, okay?" Jay said softly, rubbing his hand over Ianto's shoulders.

"I will. I won't be taking my lunch break today, so hopefully I'll be free in the afternoon, barring unscheduled events."

"Sounds good." Brushing his knuckles across Ianto's cheek, Jay got off the desk and moved towards the exit. "Oh, and don't let your coffee get cold, baby!"

"I won't!" Ianto answered, lifting the cup to his lips in reply. The door clicked shut and Ianto was left behind, sipping his coffee and sorting through the mail.

"Jack?"

Feeling a little guilty, Jack quickly switched off the CCTV monitor and looked at Tosh who was standing at the door. "Yes?"

"Did you see the latest readings of the weather radar?"

Realizing that this matter was indeed urgent, Jack forced his thoughts back onto the subject. "Er, yes. I've just looked through Ianto's recordings of the weather patterns. I think we should increase the scans for the time being. We'll know soon enough whether this is just a squall line or something Rift related."

Tosh nodded and went back to her workstation.

Jack spent the rest of the morning looking through the results of various other scans. Then he made a couple of phone calls alerting the appropriate agencies. It wasn't until noon that he found the time to consider his chat with Ianto once more.

He pulled a stack of printouts out from under the files on his desk. It was the results of the background check he'd ordered for Jay Telford earlier. A frown appeared on his face as he read through it.

Once he'd finished, he switched on the CCTV monitor once more to confirm that Ianto was at his desk and alone. He waited until the rest of the team had left for their lunch break before picking up the phone.

"Yes, sir?" Ianto said into the phone. On the monitor Jack could see that he was holding the receiver against his ear with his shoulder while he was shifting large amounts of files around. Jack almost felt bad for disturbing him.

"Ianto, I need you to find me a file in the archive concerning the weather situation."

The other man stopped bustling around and gripped the receiver with his hand. "But I've already retrieved all the relevant files from the last five years and put them on your desk this morning."

Jack looked on his desk and saw the files in question. He silently cursed Ianto's efficiency. "Ah yes, I know, but I need a different one. The one with the Gelth." Jack grimaced and knocked the receiver against his forehead at the sheer stupidity of this order.

"The Gelth?" Ianto asked, sounding skeptical as it was to be expected.

"Yeah, get me that one. I have no idea where you've filed that."

"Have you tried G, sir?" Ianto inquired politely.

"I know the fucking alphabet, I just happen to be busy," Jack replied testily, feeling busted. "Just get your ass down here and grab me the file so I can finish my analysis." He hung up quickly before Ianto could further question his order.

Five minutes later, Ianto walked into the office with a dignified expression on his face. "Here's the file you requested, sir," he said and turned to leave again.

"Ianto," Jack said quickly.

The other man stopped. "Sir?"

Jack got up and walked around the desk with his hands in his pockets. "Do you have a moment?"

Ianto looked reluctant. Still he said, "Certainly," albeit warily.

"I just wanted to apologize for my sudden departure last Friday. As you've probably guessed, your boyfriend and I didn't exactly hit it off."

"I had a suspicion, yes."

"If it upset you, I'm sorry. But I still stand by what I said."

"I understand, sir. I trust the rest of your weekend was more entertaining to you." Ianto's face and tone was blank. Jack found it frustrating. How was he going to start this conversation when Ianto acted as if they were chatting about the weather?

"On Saturday I fucked a complete stranger against the wall of some shady bar," he blurted out just to force a reaction.

He got his wish as Ianto froze, dropping his mask for a second as he stared at him in disbelief. Then he got his features back under control and said, "That's very interesting. Thank you for letting me know, sir."

Jack found it endearing how Ianto had reacted to his open taunt. He casually walked towards the other man. "I thought this would be a good opening for what I'm about to say as it shows my casual approach to sex, as you undoubtedly know."

"Quite, sir."

"I wouldn't want you to think that what I'm about to say is motivated by jealousy."

"I'd never make that mistake, sir. So what is the big announcement?"

Jack stopped in front of Ianto, so close that he could see the silver specks in the other man's eyes. "I think your boyfriend is bad for you," he said softly.

Ianto stiffened. "You do? And how have you reached that conclusion, if I may ask?"

Straight approach, Jack decided. "First of all, he's not who he seems to be. He shows a completely different face to me than he does when you're around. Secondly, his file is just too clean to be real."

A flicker of irritation whisked across Ianto's face. "You ran a background check on Jay?"

"Of course I did. Standard procedure. And unlike Owen I actually bothered to dig deeper than date and place of birth. There're hardly any records on file for him."

Raising his chin defiantly, Ianto said, "Obviously. He's just a normal person."

"Yes, but a file like this, so squeaky clean, you usually only find when it's made up."

Ianto scoffed. "You're being paranoid."

"Am I?" Jack broke the eye contact and started walking around the other man who stood stiffly in the center of the room, both arms pressed to his side. "What do you know about him? Where did he grow up? What was the name of his school? Which street did he live on, who were his childhood friends, which places did he like to hide out in?" He'd circled Ianto until he stood in front of him again. "Have you met his parents yet?"

The faintest trace of insecurity appeared on Ianto's face. "They're not from around here. We haven't had a chance to travel there yet."

"Now isn't that convenient," Jack said mockingly. "I'm surprised that you're involved with someone you obviously don't know a lot about."

"That wouldn't be the first time, would it?" Ianto fired back heatedly.

They stared at each other in quiet anger for a moment. Jack could tell by the look on the other man's face that Ianto was struggling to keep himself from saying something that was on his mind. It was a rare display of emotion that made it simply imperative for Jack to keep pushing.

"Doesn't exactly speak for your sound judgment when picking your bedmates, does it. Guess we should count ourselves lucky that you haven't brought any more hostile alien races into the Hub."

From one second to the next, Ianto's eyes blazed with unchecked anger. "Don't you dare bring Lisa into this!" he growled. "Lisa was gentle and kind before Torchwood killed her."

Jack realized instantly that he had gone too far. "Ianto, I didn't mean…"

"Oh no," Ianto interrupted him. "You do have a point. I guess I am rather stupid for falling for the man who killed her. Oh wait, of course the Cybermen killed her long before you executed her, my mistake. It's amazing how much you can ease your conscience with some well-considered reasoning."

Ianto's words slammed home with such precision that Jack couldn't help but think that he must have spent many sleepless nights full of anger thinking about them. Jack swallowed, torn between the bitter tang of guilt and the strong need to pull Ianto close and kiss away all that anger. But he knew it wasn't his place to do that.

"No wonder you think I'm stupid for rebounding into the arms of yet another man after you've crushed my heart so expertly under your time traveling boots," Ianto went on. "But don't you dare question my judgment when you're the one who has thrown it off kilter ever since I've met you. And you know what? He may not be you, but at least he makes me happy! He doesn't mind spending time with me. He takes an interest in my life. And he doesn't kick me out of bed right after he's fucked me."

"Is that what you want from me?" Jack blurted out before he could stop himself.

Ianto stared at him silently for a moment. Then he said, "The fact that you even need to ask that is why I don't want anything from you anymore."

The rejection hurt surprisingly much. Stunned, Jack stepped aside when Ianto pushed past him. "Fine, but then don't come crying to me when you find out that your beau is bad news!" he called out before the other man was through the door.

Ianto stopped, not turning around. "Don't worry, I won't," he said softly, his hand on the doorknob.

The sudden sting of regret made Jack speak again. "Ianto, don't," he said and put his hand on the other man's shoulder. "I didn't mean that. I want you to come to me, do you hear?" he pleaded. He let his hand slip down until it found Ianto's hand and took it into a firm grasp. "When something happens, anything at all, if you notice something isn't right, then I want you to come to me. Call me, any time, anywhere."

"That won't be necessary," Ianto said hoarsely, still not looking at him.

"Promise me, please?"

Slowly, Ianto turned to look at him, quiet pain shimmering in his eyes. "Fine…" he muttered, a tortured smile playing on his lips. "Can I go now?"

Jack found it difficult to talk all of a sudden. So he just nodded curtly and released Ianto, who slipped out of the room without another sound.

 

*******************************

 

In the afternoon, Jack sent everyone home as it looked like the situation was still holding off for the time being. He advised them to get a good rest and prepare themselves for a potentially long night. He then positioned himself near the monitors with a book he'd been reading passively for a while now and held vigil.

It wasn't until half an hour later that he realized that he had completely forgotten to send Ianto off as well. In a way this was really ironic, considering that he'd barely gotten through half a page in his book because his thoughts kept constantly returning to the quiet Welshman.

He grabbed the phone to fix this minor oversight. Ianto took surprisingly long to pick up. When he finally did, he seemed in good spirits and obviously hadn't looked at the caller ID since he answered with his full name and greeting.

"Uh, it's me, Ianto," Jack said, a little taken by surprise.

"What can I do for you, sir?" Ianto's voice sobered instantly.

Jack quickly wheeled his chair over to the CCTV monitor and switched it on. It flickered and revealed Ianto at his desk, sitting in a relaxed position with one leg thrown across the knee of the other. He had a napkin stuffed into the collar of his shirt and a box of Chinese take-away was resting in his lap. The far more disconcerting sight was Telford sitting on an extra chair next to Ianto, digging around in Ianto's food with his chopsticks.

Jack's fingers tightened around the receiver. Looked like his concerns hadn't impressed Ianto at all. He wasn't really sure what he had expected Ianto to do following their conversation, but sharing an intimate meal of Chow Mein on his lap hadn't been on the list.

Feeling irrationally angry, Jack changed his mind. "I just wanted to let you know that you'll probably need to stay in late today. I anticipate a change in the weather patterns around nine, so we should be prepared."

"I already figured something like that when you sent the others home earlier," Ianto replied.

Feeling a bit guilty, Jack had a kind comment on the tip of his tongue, when he saw Telford try to feed some food to Ianto who then covered the receiver with his hand and whispered, only audible through the CCTV, "Stop it, I'm talking to my boss!"

"Well, that's good then. Keep yourself ready," Jack growled and hung up. He immediately reached for the controller of the sound device and turned up the volume while he took a deep breath to compose himself. He refused to get to the bottom of why exactly he had felt so betrayed when he'd seen Ianto happily taking dinner with Telford.

"I've got to work tonight," Ianto told his boyfriend on the CCTV.

"Guess it can't be helped," Telford replied, taking a sip from his drink. He put the can down on the desk. "Good thing I came by with dinner then. Otherwise you would have gone without food all day."

"I would have managed." Ianto gave him a soft smile that made Jack grit his teeth again. Then he tossed his chopsticks into the box and put it aside with a sigh.

"What's wrong, baby? You seem to be in a bad mood today."

Ianto made a vague motion with his hand. "It just wasn't a good day."

"Lots of work?"

There was a short pause. Then Ianto said, "Yes, that too. And my boss was giving me a hard time." Jack hated it when Ianto referred to him as 'his boss'.

"About anything in particular?"

Another pause. "Yes, but I don't want to talk about it."

Telford looked at Ianto for a moment, then he nodded slowly. "Okay." He picked up Ianto's food and started eating from it.

Ianto watched him silently for a while. Then he said reluctantly, "Jay?"

The other man stopped in the middle of shoveling food into his mouth and looked at him. "Mmh?"

"Where did you grow up?"

Telford swallowed. "What?"

"Your home when you were a boy. What you were like as a child. You never talk about it. I was wondering about that."

Telford put the box back on the desk. "What brought that about?"

Ianto shrugged. "Is it so weird to want to know more about the man I spend every day with?"

"No, it's not. You just never seemed to care before." He moved closer with his chair and put his hands on Ianto's thighs, gently rubbing up and down. "There's not much to say though. I was a quiet kid, didn't have a lot of friends. Did well at school though. I always had a thing for science. I was good with numbers."

"And your parents?"

"We don't see each other very often since I moved away from home for the job."

"Okay. And where was that?"

"Where was what?"

"Where you grew up."

Telford looked at Ianto for a moment, then he said, "Preston. I grew up in Preston."

Jack noticed Ianto's obvious relief. "Is it nice there?"

"Ianto, do we need to talk about that?" The slightest trace of irritation was noticeable in the other man's voice. "I haven't thought about that place in ages! I'm here now, am I not? I don't see why this is so important to you all of a sudden."

"You're right, I'm sorry." Ianto leaned back in his chair. "I guess I'm just feeling a little chatty since I know this is going to be a long night."

"Poor thing…" Telford purred and put his hands on Ianto's shoulders, rubbing them slowly. "And think about my long night! I'd been so looking forward to having you in my bed tonight."

Ianto chuckled. "But don't you get me in your bed every night anyway?"

"Not every night. Sometimes I get you in yours, too!" He leaned in and kissed Ianto deeply. The kiss seemed to go on forever and Jack realized he was squeezing his pencil too hard when he heard the wood crack.

"No, stop…" Ianto panted when he pulled away.

"What's wrong?" Telford asked, rubbing a thumb across Ianto's lips.

"We can't do that here."

"Why not? We've done it before," Telford murmured, placing another noisy kiss on Ianto's mouth.

Ianto moaned softly. "But that was before my boss got back…" He tilted his head back to give Telford better access to his throat.

"We still have time for a quickie," Telford coaxed, nuzzling the skin at Ianto's throat. "Everyone's still out."

"B-but my boss isn't…" Ianto sighed.

"Call me Jack, dammit!" Jack growled at the CCTV, his eyes glued to the screen.

"Your boss has better things to do, I'm sure." Telford grabbed Ianto around his waist and pulled him onto his lap. "Come on…" he said so softly that Jack had to strain his ears to hear it. "I want to come in that pretty mouth of yours."

Jack nearly choked on his own tongue right there. He was still in a state of shock at the unexpected words when he witnessed Ianto nodding slowly before sliding down the other man's body to the floor until he was sitting comfortably between his open legs.

"Hold on, let me move back a little to give you more room," Telford murmured, his voice thick with arousal. He shimmied in the chair and swung his long legs around, inadvertently giving Jack the perfect view of the action.

With the appreciative eyes of a connoisseur, Jack eyed the length of Telford's erection as it was freed from his jeans by Ianto's busy hands. Under normal circumstances he would have acknowledged that Telford indeed had a very nice cock, but right now he rather hated that fact.

"But we really have to be quick," Ianto murmured as he stroked slowly up and down the other man's cock.

"Don't worry, baby," Telford panted, sliding down in the chair a little. "If you do your normal thing I'm sure I won't last very long. I've been hard for you all day."

'I taught him that!' Jack thought angrily as he watched Telford's cock slide into Ianto's willing mouth. He'd been in situations like this countless times before, watching a lover of his go down on someone else, and so far he'd always enjoyed the show. But right now he felt infuriated at the thought that all the love and care he'd used on breaking Ianto in was wasted on a guy like this.

And there was no doubt about it that Telford was enjoying this. His head was leaning comfortably against the backrest of the chair. His eyes were closed and one hand was resting loosely in Ianto's hair, sifting through the dark curls every now and then when Ianto performed a particularly skilful maneuver that made him buck his hips and groan.

Soon they fell into a rhythm that heralded Telford's approaching climax. Jack felt himself unable to turn his eyes away from the scene, part of him recognizing that it was wrong to spy on Ianto like this, the other, lower part ragingly hard at the sight of it. He had half a mind to switch off the sound device to shut out the obscene sucking sounds and moans that hovered through his office, but he never actually did it.

"Oh God, that feels so good…" Telford gasped, thrusting his hips upwards into Ianto's mouth. Jack felt himself violently reminded of when he had been in the exact same position, sitting where he was right now, with Ianto working between his legs just like he did with Telford now. He remembered the velvety sensation of Ianto's tongue and the eagerness with which he had responded to his murmured instructions. Jack moaned and cupped his own erection.

And then it happened. Telford arched his back and froze, his lids flying open as he succumbed to his orgasm. As he spent himself in Ianto's eager mouth, Telford looked straight into the surveillance camera, his eyes seemingly locking with Jack's for just a moment. Just when Jack thought that he was imagining this, a cruel smile flickered across Telford's face.

The eye contact was broken when Ianto got up and Telford pulled him into his lap again. "Hmm, that was fantastic, baby," Telford murmured, pressing a kiss against Ianto's lips. "Just the thing I needed."

Jack sat back in his chair, his own throbbing erection all but forgotten. Had he just imagined that? The impression had been so fleeting that he could almost convince himself that he had. His troubling thoughts were interrupted by Telford's voice.

"Looks like you've got a bit of a problem there," he crooned, slipping his hand between both their bodies. Jack couldn't see Ianto's face, but he could imagine the soft blush on his cheeks right now. "Need some help with that?"

Ianto nodded wordlessly and moved on Telford's lap a little to give him more room. The jarring murmur of a zipper being pulled down cut through the rustling sound of clothes pushed aside. A moment later, Ianto moaned softly and let his head fall against Telford's shoulder, moving to the steady rhythm of the rubbing hand between his legs.

"That's it… just relax, baby," Telford murmured, letting his free hand roam across Ianto's back. "But before you relax too much, let me get this…" He tugged the handkerchief out of Ianto's breast pocket and slipped it between their bodies. "There. Wouldn't want to make a mess out of that suit of yours, would we."

Ianto just whimpered in reply when the hand between his legs picked up its pace. He lifted both hands and put them on the other man's shoulders for support while he arched his back, pushing his hips into the caressing hand. A soft sigh escaped from his lips when Telford bent his head and started nuzzling the skin of his neck.

The way they were sitting there, their limbs entwined, the sounds of sighs and kisses hovering through the room, seemed so familiar and comfortable that it made Jack's heart ache in his chest. He watched Ianto melt into the other man's caresses, heard him do those soft keening sounds that went straight to his crotch, and wondered why he had never taken the time to do something like this.

"Hmm, you like that, don't you," Telford murmured and Jack felt violently sick with envy. He desperately wished to be in his place now, to be able to see Ianto's face as he was nearing his peak as his moans grew more insistent. He knew those sounds well, breathed hotly against his ear while he was racing towards completion. If he hadn't been so preoccupied with his own pleasure then, maybe he would have noticed sooner how beautiful they sounded.

"Jay!" Ianto gasped as he stiffened on the other man's lap. Telford pulled his head roughly towards him and captured his mouth in a ravaging kiss while Ianto shook in the throes of his release.

Telford continued stroking him for a short while before pulling his hand back and wrapping both arms around Ianto, pressing their bodies together while he deepened the kiss which had turned, much gentler now, into an idle exploration. When they finally pulled apart, Ianto was still panting, a shiver running through his body ever so often.

Leaning back in the chair casually, his hand resting on Ianto's hip, Telford gave him a lazy smile. "That was a good start," he said. "Too bad we have to stop here. The way your ass was grinding against my crotch there would have awakened the dead."

Jack gritted his teeth. He wouldn't be able to sit through another session like this. To his relief, he watched Ianto get off the other man's lap, holding the soiled handkerchief in his hand.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Ianto muttered. Jack could see his face now. He looked disheveled, the after-sex glow and mussed hair making him appear incredibly sexy. Before he could stop himself, Jack found himself touching the monitor gently, regretting violently that he hadn't been the one to put that look on Ianto's face.

"That was silk…" Ianto said, looking at the handkerchief in regret.

The comment earned him a sharp laugh from Telford who lit himself a cigarette. "Only you would complain about something like that."

Ianto turned to him. "Don't smoke in here!"

Unfazed, Telford blew a circle of smoke into the room. "Do you want to send me out into the rain to get my post-coital smoke? At least I'm waiting until after all the kissing is done before I light one."

"Jack will smell it."

Telford flashed him a careless smile. "So let him."

Not replying to that, Ianto disappeared through the beady curtain. The sound of running water could be heard while Telford continued sitting sprawled out on the chair, smoking and looking very much like a man who'd just had sex. Jack loathed the very sight of him. Eventually, he stubbed out his cigarette on the lid of the take-away container, not bothering to toss it into the trash.

He got up when Ianto returned to the room, looking once more the perfect image of a receptionist. Jack wasn't really sure why he was still watching, but somehow he was unable to tear his eyes away. His own arousal was long gone and replaced by the heavy weight of regret that seemed to have become his constant companion lately.

Jack forced his attention away from the two men. He'd intruded on them enough already. Swinging around in his chair, he reached for the bottle of bourbon in the bottom drawer. He took a swig straight from the bottle, grimacing as the liquid burned down his throat. It wasn't enough to replace the dull throb in the pit of his stomach.

Feeling like this confused him. He'd never been the type to dwell on past regrets. Smile and carry on, that was his preferred mode of operation. He'd seen endless rows of lovers come and go. He had loved people who weren't even born yet as well as people who had long been gone. He had always taken the changes in his stride, so why did it feel so bitter now?

The shrill sound of an alarm yanked him out of his maudlin mood. He jumped up and rushed towards the radars which were giving off a staccato beep. Taking in the situation quickly, he ground out a curse and rushed towards the phone and snatched up the receiver.

"Yes, sir?" Ianto answered the phone instantly.

A quick glance at the monitor told Jack that Telford was still in the room, but he couldn't be bothered about that now. "Ianto, we're having a situation. I'm calling the others. Get the cars ready and prepare yourself for an away mission."

"Why me too?" Ianto asked, slightly perplexed.

Jack sighed, understanding Ianto's reluctance. "We've got three weevils on the loose in central Cardiff. I need you to drive the truck as we'll need every hand we can get. And pack lots of Weevil spray!"

 

*******************************

 

When Jack barged into the parking level five minutes later, he found Ianto standing by the SUV, hands buried in his pockets and his coat thrown casually across his arm. Jack frowned as he approached, pulling the straps of his great-coat tighter around his body.

"Is this how you plan on going on a Weevil hunt?" he asked, slightly bemused. His eyes flickered towards the missing handkerchief in Ianto's breast pocket and he looked away guiltily.

"I wasn't exactly prepared for a situation like this and I didn't have the chance to go home and get changed," Ianto explained calmly, handing him the keys.

Jack knew Ianto was right, but he still didn't like it. "Then try to keep yourself in the background, okay? I don't want to see you in unnecessary danger." Without thinking about it, he reached for the other man and gently cupped his cheek.

The stunned look on Ianto's face when he pulled back reminded him of the inappropriateness of his action. To cover up his mistake, Jack quickly ran his hands down the sides of the other man's body, tugging at the suit as if to test the fabric. He took the coat from Ianto and tested it as well.

"The coat is thick enough to give some very basic protection, I suppose. Just make sure to close it properly before you get out on the field. And turn up the lapel to protect your throat. Do you have gloves?"

"Just the sheepskin ones," Ianto replied, still eying him with a mixture of curiosity and confusion.

"Better than nothing. Put them on." He patted Ianto on the shoulder and gave him a little push towards the truck parked next to the SUV. "Let's get a move on. Follow me with the truck. We need to pick up the others."

At night, the wet pavement seemed almost black and reflected the streetlights even more harshly. The rain was so strong now that the windscreen wipers could barely keep up. Every now and then, Jack checked the rearview mirror to make sure Ianto was still following him with the truck as he found his way through the winding streets.

Owen was the first one they picked up. "I should have listened to my mum," he muttered as he slipped onto the backseat, his hair flat against his head and dripping with water. "I could be owning my own surgery now, working comfortable hours. No standing around in the rain, waiting to get maimed by a Weevil…"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you'd actually need to be registered with the General Medical Council for that," Jack replied sardonically as he gunned the engine and took off on the wet pavement with a tormented screech of the tires.

Next were Tosh and Gwen who were both waiting at the arranged rendezvous-point, sharing Tosh's umbrella. As soon as Tosh had slipped into her designated seat, she took out her laptop and docked it to the SUV. A moment later she was typing away furiously.

"Okay, I've got a signal", she exclaimed. "Good thing they just came through the Rift… Oh no!"

"What is it?" Jack asked, glancing at her through the rearview mirror.

"Looks like they've split up. Two of them are walking along St. Mary's Street…"

"Great," Owen groaned. "First day on earth and the Weevils have nothing better to do than go clubbing."

"And the third one," Tosh continued, unfazed, "is giving off a rather weak signal at Bute Park. I have no idea why. Could be the windstorm dispelling the residual energy trace of the Rift too quickly. Either way, we're about to lose the signal of that one."

Jack processed the information quickly and came to a decision. "Okay. Owen and Gwen, do you think you can deal with the two Weevils on your own?" He saw them exchange a look, then nod. "Good. You have my permission to use any means necessary to apprehend them."

He turned in his seat to look at his remaining team member. "Tosh, go with them. Hack yourself into the emergency call center and trace all calls coming in from now until the Weevils are safely inside the back of the truck. We might need to do some retconning as soon as this is over."

"Got it, Jack!"

Reaching for his earpiece, Jack opened a connection to the truck. "Ianto, come to the SUV. Gwen and Owen are taking the truck. You're coming with me."

"Right away, sir."

Jack waited for his team to arrange themselves the way he had instructed them to. When Ianto was sitting in the passenger seat, he turned towards him. "We're about to lose the signal of this one Weevil over at Bute Park. I need you to navigate me using Tosh's instructions while I bring the SUV as close to the site as I can. Then I want you to wait in the car while I capture the Weevil. Shouldn't be too difficult."

"You do realize I have been hunting Weevils before, sir," Ianto pointed out as he fastened his seatbelt.

Jack didn't reply to that. He couldn't even explain to himself why he suddenly felt so protective of Ianto. Instead, he stepped down on the gas again and took off, taking them both towards Bute Park.

As soon as they reached the edge of the park, Jack pulled the SUV over, disregarding the natural flow of the traffic, and sent the car on a bumpy ride across the lawn. The wheels spun on the soggy ground, struggling to get a grip as they slithered through the scrubland, branches whipping against the windscreen. Jack didn't miss the way Ianto was cringing next to him and hid a grin.

"Sir, do you think you should be driving the car straight into the greenery?" he said tensely.

"I don't know, Ianto, do you think I shouldn't try everything I can to stop the Weevil before it ends up hurting an innocent passerby?" Racing the car through the bushes like that sent an exhilarating tingle down his spine. Jack enjoyed the thrill of the hunt too much to accept any criticism. "When you're done clawing the dashboard, you think you could make contact with Tosh?" he said with a wink as he abruptly altered course.

"Yes, sir," Ianto murmured as he fumbled for his earpiece. While he was talking to Tosh, Jack opened a line to Gwen to ask about their progress.

"We've got them cornered in a side street now, Jack," Gwen told him, sounding only slightly out of breath. "It wasn't really a big deal despite the storm. They still seem pretty much out of sorts from the Rift jump. They were seen by a bunch of blokes at a parking lot earlier, but we've told them we were shooting a sci-fi show and that seemed to appease them. They were pretty pissed anyway, so even if they end up talking about aliens no one will believe them."

"Excellent. Just throw the Weevils in the truck and take them back to the Hub then. We'll see you there as soon as we've managed to lure our sharp-fanged friend out of its hiding place."

Jack cut the line and looked at Ianto who was still talking to Tosh. He had one hand on his earpiece while the other one was at the GPS in front of him, punching in commands.

"What was the last position then? Uh-huh… okay. Hold on." Ianto turned the toggle and zoomed in on the map. "Okay, I've got it now. Yes, we'll try." He turned to Jack. "The signal is completely gone now, but it only disappeared a couple of minutes ago and I've got the coordinates. The Weevil can't be far away."

"All right, lead the way." Jack followed Ianto's instructions until the SUV came to a halt at a small clearing. Jack cut the engine and unfastened his seatbelt. "Okay, so let's see if we can find the lost tourist. You stay here."

He got out. A strong gust of wind slammed into him and nearly pushed him back against the car. The storm was roaring overhead, thundering through the leaves of the tree, making it impossible to hear anything else. Pushing the wet hair out of his face, Jack walked around the car once, squinting into the rain-blurred darkness around him. He couldn't see anything. Muttering a curse, he got back inside.

"I need the night vision. It's impossible to make anything out with weather like this."

Ianto turned around in the seat and started rummaging through the equipment box behind him. While he did that, Jack got a gratuitous shot of his well-rounded ass which he blatantly enjoyed. When Ianto turned back to him, he tried his best to look neutral.

"Thanks," he mumbled as he took the goggles from the other man's hand and put them on. Everything was now tinged in green. He methodically let his glance wander across the area, past every tree and bush, until he came to the conclusion that the Weevil wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Nothing," he growled as he yanked off the goggles.

Walking through the park during weather like this would be foolish. If he didn't get ambushed by a growling Weevil hiding somewhere in a thicket, he'd probably get hit by lightning, or blown away, or crushed by a falling tree.

"Okay, change of plan," Jack said. "I'm going to bring out the bait now. Then we turn everything off and wait for the Weevil to be lured towards the car. Then I jump out and grab it, or something like that. I'll deal with that when it happens."

"Sounds like a well thought-out plan," Ianto said, sounding just the slightest bit sarcastic. When Jack gave him a sharp look, Ianto's face was devoid of any expression that might suggest any form of criticism.

Shrugging, Jack got out into the rain once more and walked around the SUV. He opened the trunk and grabbed the blanket drenched with Weevil pheromone that Owen had prepared earlier. Then he balled it up and hurled it out onto the lawn in front of the SUV.

Back in the car he shook like a wet dog. "God, I hate this weather!"

"Yes. Makes you wonder why anyone would want to come here when they have the whole wide universe to choose from," Ianto said. After a short pause, he added, "The Weevils, I mean."

Jack gave Ianto a curious look. "Well, maybe the Weevils have something special here in Cardiff that makes it worthwhile for them to travel through time and space," he replied, watching Ianto's face closely.

Ianto met his gaze. "Then why would they leave in the first place?"

"Maybe they were lost… searching, and needed answers without which they wouldn't have been able to settle down and enjoy what they have."

Ianto's eyes were burning into his. "So are you saying that a Weevil who has found the answers is ready to settle down and is done with randomly leaving for months without notice?"

"Well, maybe some Weevils never quite settle down completely. Some will probably always remain restless and wandering, but I could imagine that once they've satisfied their curiosity, they know where they belong."

Ianto drew a shuddering breath. "Lucky Weevils then."

"Yeah," Jack said hoarsely.

"Too bad we hardly know anything about them and all of this is mere theory."

"Yes, that's too bad." They stared at each other in the darkness and Jack wished he could just lean in and taste Ianto's lips again. It was as if he had almost forgotten how they felt pressed against his. But he was afraid to fracture this fragile moment with unwanted advances.

Immediately, the memory of what he had witnessed earlier returned and Jack felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He broke the eye contact and turned in his seat, staring out into the darkness ahead.

"Jack…" Ianto said next to him, his voice unusually timid.

He turned his head. "Hmm?"

"I really didn't think you'd come back." Ianto had said it so softly that Jack at first wasn't even sure whether he had heard him. When it finally registered, he sat up straight.

"What? Why?"

Ianto just shrugged. "I guess I didn't believe that I was anything more than just a casual thing for you. You never gave me reason to think otherwise."

Jack couldn't deny that. Reluctantly, he reached out for Ianto's hand. When the other man didn't resist, he entwined their fingers and pressed their palms together tightly. He heard a sharp intake of breath. "And what was I to you?" he whispered.

There was a brief pause. "I loved you," Ianto said simply.

Jack felt overwhelmed for a moment, his heart jumping in his chest, until his mind finished dissecting the meaning of those words. "Past tense?" he asked softly.

Ianto took excruciatingly long to reply. "I just don't know anymore…" He took a deep breath. "Whether it's worth all the pain."

That hurt a little even though Jack couldn't blame Ianto for thinking so. "I sincerely hope Telford never hurts you then," he said, unable to keep a hint of bitterness out of his voice.

"He gives me what I need," Ianto said reluctantly.

"And what is that? Good sex?"

"Among other things. That is certainly one need that had to be seen to after you'd left. Weaning off Captain Jack Harkness is difficult." The slightly teasing note that had crept into Ianto's voice made it easier for Jack to have this conversation.

"And apart from that?" he asked.

Ianto laughed humorlessly. "I know what you're trying to say. You think someone like me could never land a guy that hot, so something has got to be wrong. Don't you think I know that? Owen hasn't lost any time informing me of his concerns on that matter."

"No, that is not what I'm saying at all," Jack protested hotly. "And I'm not about to let you insult my taste either. Or Owen, for that matter. Because I happen to find you rather appealing and you know that."

Ianto didn't say anything, but the flush that appeared on his cheeks, barely visible in the darkness, spoke volumes. "So, what is it then?" he asked after a while. "Don't you want me to be happy?"

Jack sighed. "You know that's not it. Hell, if that's what you wanted I'd personally assist you with finding the perfect boyfriend. It's just Telford I have a problem with."

"But why? What has he done to deserve all this distrust?"

For a moment, Jack considered telling Ianto everything, but then he decided against it. He didn't want to fight. "What has he done to deserve that kind of loyalty?" he asked instead in return.

Ianto thought about it for a moment. "He's good to me. He listens when I need to talk. He knows I'm hurting and doesn't just expect me to buck up and get over it. He holds me when I need it." Ianto shrugged. "He was there for me when no one else was."

"Do you love him?" Jack asked softly. He held his breath, waiting for the answer.

"I… don't know," Ianto said reluctantly and Jack exhaled slowly. "I don’t think I'm ready yet to love again. But I'm giving him all I'm capable of at the moment. I'll learn to love him one day."

Jack felt strangely touched hearing this. He squeezed Ianto's hand which he was still holding. "I see," he said hoarsely. "I'm not going to stop investigating though."

"I didn't think you would," Ianto replied calmly.

"You know I have to. Just to make sure he's no danger to you."

Ianto looked at him for a long moment, then he nodded slowly. "I understand."

Jack wanted to say more, but a movement in the corner of his eye alerted him. He looked in that direction and saw the Weevil moving towards the bait from the side, the head turning erratically as it was sniffing around. "There it is!" he whispered, releasing Ianto's hand at once to reach for the door.

"The Weevil will notice the trap soon. I need to make a move before that happens and it runs off. I want you to turn on the headlights as soon as I get outside. Hopefully, that'll stun it enough for me to get close. You got that?"

Ianto nodded and moved closer to the center to reach for the switch.

"Ready?" Jack whispered and waited for another affirmative nod before opening the door quietly. Immediately, rain started pouring in through the crack. Ignoring the uncomfortable wetness, Jack watched the Weevil closely until it came into range. "Now!" he shouted and kicked open the door.

Blinding light flooded the area, confusing him too for a moment. But he had prepared himself and taken aim beforehand, so when he kicked himself off the ground and launched himself at the Weevil, he soon made impact with it and managed to knock it to the ground.

The Weevil let out an angry growl and hoisted itself up again, seemingly ignoring Jack's weight on its back. It didn't appear weakened from the Rift jump at all. Instead, it thrashed around violently, slamming him into the hood of the car and knocking the wind out of him. One of its clawed hands reached around and took Jack's arm in a painful grasp, yanking him off its back like a rag doll.

Jack was stunned for a moment when his back made impact with the muddy ground. A second later, the Weevil was above him and its sharp fangs only inches away from his throat. Jack brought his leg up with a howl and kneed the alien in the stomach while he pressed both his hands against its chest to keep it away from his throat.

But the Weevil was mad with rage and Jack's struggling didn't seem to have any effect on it. As the sharp teeth came closer and closer to his throat, Jack hoped with a twinge of panic that he wouldn't be out for long once the alien had ripped out his throat, so that he'd be able to stop it from going after Ianto.

That particular train of thought was interrupted when a buzzing sound cracked through the air and the Weevil roared in pain, easing off him instantly as it flailed around to remove whatever it was that was attacking it.

Jack used this chance to draw both legs up and kick the Weevil in the chest, hurling it backwards into the mud. He jumped back on his feet and spun around to see what had been the source of the Weevil's distress.

Ianto was standing in front of the car, the beams of the headlights giving his slender body an almost angelic aura. Clasped in his shaking hands he held a taser gun which was still emitting electric shocks into the Weevil's twitching body.

"Drop the gun and get back into the car!" Jack yelled, having difficulty with finding footing on the slippery ground.

A mere heartbeat later, the Weevil was back on its feet, having yanked off the offending probes, and was now angrier than ever. With a feral snarl, it lunged towards Ianto, both clawed hands raised as deadly weapons. Jack plunged himself at it, but slipped on the lawn and merely managed to take the force out of the Weevil's attack.

The alien's foot connected with his jaw and made him loosen his grip around the legs as he slid face first into the mud. For a moment, the pain in his head was so excruciating that Jack wanted to do nothing more than lie there and slip into oblivion, but Ianto's strangled cry forced him back onto his feet.

The Weevil had Ianto around his neck and was shaking him like a puppet. Ianto's hands were clasped around the alien's wrists but it was a futile act. Jack had but a moment to decide before the Weevil would break Ianto's neck. Without a second thought, he reached for his gun, raised it right to the Weevil's head and fired a shot.

The Weevil slumped immediately and was already dead by the time it hit the ground with a wet slap. Ignoring the corpse, he stepped over it and rushed towards Ianto who was sprawled out on the hood of the car, unmoving.

"Ianto!" Jack exclaimed as he cradled the other man's head and gently pulled him up, mindful of possible injuries. The other man gave a tiny whimper and Jack breathed a sigh of relief. Intent on getting him out of the rain, he pulled Ianto up and dragged him back to the door, carefully placing him onto the passenger seat.

"Ianto, look at me!" Jack placed his hand against the other man's cheek, oblivious to the rain hammering down on him as he was half kneeling on the step of the SUV.

A jerk went through Ianto and he drew a shuddering breath as he opened his eyes, looking around disorientated for a second before homing in on Jack. His hand shot up and covered Jack's. "Weevil…" he croaked.

Jack felt like laughing. "Don't worry, the Weevil is dead. Are you feeling okay? Where does it hurt?"

Ianto closed his eyes for a moment. "Throat… a bit. I'm fine."

"I'm taking you back to the Hub right now." Jack rubbed his hand across Ianto's cheek affectionately once more before forcing himself to let go. He was torn between wanting to run his hands over every inch of the other man's body to make sure he was all right and wanting to finish the Weevil's job.

It still filled him with anger to think that Ianto had clearly disobeyed his direct order and it had gotten him hurt. Of course, if Ianto hadn't done so he'd be Weevil chow now, Jack admitted to himself grudgingly as he stalked around the car. He dragged the dead Weevil to the back and tossed it into the trunk. Then he slipped into the driver's seat and took the car out of the park area.

Once they were back on solid roads, he called the Hub to inform them that Ianto had had a scuffle with the Weevil. Not surprisingly, they were received by the entire team as soon as he pulled into the garage.

"What on earth happened?" was Gwen's greeting as she yanked the car door open on Jack's side. "Oh my God, look at you! You look like you've been mud wrestling!"

"That would be a rather accurate description," Jack pointed out dryly as he unfastened his seatbelt. "Your concern warms my heart."

"Figures that we bag two Weevils, no sweat, and you two clowns fail to bring in just one alive," Owen drawled from the side. "I daresay, you're out of practice, Harkness."

Ignoring the taunt, Jack turned towards the doctor. "Something was definitely different about the behavior of this Weevil. Maybe an autopsy will tell us more. The body is in the trunk."

On the other side of the car, Ianto was being received by Tosh who was holding his elbow as he climbed out. "Is everything all right, Ianto?"

"I'm fine, Tosh, thanks," Ianto said hoarsely, his throat still bothering him obviously.

"I'll be the judge of that, thank you very much." Owen pushed past Tosh and yanked out his penlight, flashing it into Ianto's eyes a couple of times. "Are you feeling dizzy? Nauseous? Did you get hit on the head?"

"No, no and no," Ianto replied, calmly enduring the quick examination.

"Ianto's just gotten a little roughed up, that's all. Nothing a nice warm bath won't fix." Jack said it with a confidence he had managed to convince himself of just now.

"Let's take you to the examination room. I'd like to check you out properly." Despite his previous mockery, Owen acted professional and proficient now, taking the possibility of injury very seriously. Pleased with this, Jack followed them to the elevator.

After ten minutes of examination which Jack used to get himself cleaned up, Owen decreed that nothing stood between Ianto and his coffee making duties once he'd slept off the excitement of the day and put away his rarely used stethoscope. Ianto sat on the examination table with his feet dangling off the side like a boy waiting to be awarded his lollipop for exceptional bravery.

"So… want me to take you home?" Jack asked casually as he stepped next to the other man. "Not sure whether you should be on your own just yet."

"Owen said I was okay."

"Owen considers Shakin' Stevens classic rock."

"Good point…"

"So, why don't you get your things and we're out of here?" Jack suggested offhandedly. For a moment he thought Ianto was actually going to take him up on the offer, but then they were interrupted by Tosh.

"Jay is here."

Jack could have screamed in frustration. "What the hell is he doing here?" he said more forcefully than he had meant to.

Tosh looked confused for a moment. Then she said, "Uh, Gwen called him after you called? She thought Ianto might need a ride home."

Jack bit back a curse.

"That was very nice of her, Tosh," Ianto interrupted them as he slid off the table. "That way I don't need to inconvenience Jack."

Jack was just about to protest when the other man's pointed look made him close his mouth again. Ianto obviously hadn't missed his displeasure. "I don't want him down here," Jack mumbled stubbornly anyhow.

"Tell him I'll meet him in the reception in a moment," Ianto said to Tosh before leaving for the main area. Jack followed him and nearly bumped into him when he found him frozen to the spot, staring at the pile of muddy clothes on the couch in horror. Shaking his head, Ianto grabbed his wet coat from the chair and started for the elevator.

"Jack, stop being ridiculous!" Ianto hissed when Jack slipped into the elevator with him. "You're acting as if Jay was a wild ogre!"

"I'm just making sure you're okay."

"Whether I'm okay or not is not your concern!" Ianto snapped, turning to him with blazing eyes.

"You can say that all you want, but that doesn't make it true. You'll always be my concern, no matter how much you claim otherwise," Jack replied, unfazed, eyes firmly to the front.

The doors of the elevator opened and Ianto slipped out as fast as he could. Jack caught up with him and put a hand against the door before Ianto could open it. "Allow me," he said sweetly as he pulled it open for him.

Telford was standing at the brochure display when they entered. He turned around, some leaflet in his hand, when he heard the sounds of them coming in. His face darkened as soon as he saw Jack, but he quickly got his features under control again and directed his attention at Ianto.

"Baby, are you okay? I got a call from your colleague telling me you needed to be picked up." He put the brochure down and placed both hands on Ianto's shoulders.

"It's okay," Ianto said softly, obviously uncomfortable with Jack being around, watching them with eagle eyes.

Telford looked at the two of them. "What exactly happened?"

When Ianto didn't reply right away, Jack said, "A minor incident with an illegal immigrant we were trying to apprehend. Jumped at Ianto's throat before I could stop him."

Putting one hand against Ianto's cheek, Telford asked, "But you're okay now?"

Ianto nodded. "I'm fine. Just let me get my stuff and then we can go." He freed himself from Telford's grasp and went to the backroom, not looking at Jack.

Jack hardly waited for the bead curtain to swing back before he took a large step towards Telford. "Look," he said softly. "You may think I'm just the jealous ex who can't let go. But you're wrong. This isn't jealousy." He stepped closer so that he could almost feel the other man's breath. "This is me watching you, and if I see you as much as breathe in the wrong direction, I will be there to stop you. This is the absolute certainty that if you even think about hurting Ianto, there'll be no place on earth and beyond for you to hide. I'll find you."

A peculiar glimmer lit up the other man's eyes as he returned his glance, unwavering. "Oh, is that so?" He gave Jack a cold smile. "Guess I'll always have to watch my back then."

"If you know what's good for you."

"But to ease your mind, I have no reason to hurt Ianto." He paused, a cold smile on his lips. "After all, you trained him well."

Just for a brief moment, red-hot anger flared up and clouded Jack's brain. Before he could stop himself, he had balled his hand into a fist and struck out, flooring the other man with one well-placed blow. Telford must have seen his fist coming, yet he made no attempt to stop it. He stumbled backwards under the force of the punch, knocking down a bunch of brochures as he crashed into the display and sank to the ground.

When he looked up at Jack, with a bruise already forming barely visible under the stubble on his chin, he didn't look angry at all. Instead, his white teeth gleamed as he flashed him a roguish smile. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this…" he mumbled, rubbing across his chin once.

At the same moment, Ianto burst through the curtain, alarmed by the commotion. "Jack! What have you done?" he shouted.

Jack turned his head to look at Ianto. The movement in the corner of his eye was barely a flash and when he turned back, Telford's fist had already connected with his face. His head was thrown back painfully and he groaned when he felt the ring on the other man's hand scrape past his lip and split it.

"Jay!" Ianto shouted and Jack registered with satisfaction that he sounded just as outraged as he had a moment before. "What has gotten into you two?" Ianto rushed between them as if expecting a fist fight to break out.

But Jack had no intention of continuing this. Cupping his mouth with one hand, he took a graceful step back. He lifted the hand away to look at the amount of blood that had spilled from the cut and grimaced.

"Guess that makes us even, Telford," he said, wiping the blood into the handkerchief he had produced from his pocket.

"I have a thing for leveling the score," Telford replied coolly as he straightened himself up fully. "Let's go, Ianto." He didn't wait for the other man to follow him as he made his way to the exit.

Ianto threw Jack one last look of silent reprimand before hurrying outside as well.

 

*******************************

 

Jack felt murderous when he stomped back into his office. He plopped into his chair, the handkerchief still pressed against the cut. "Out!" he hollered when Gwen appeared at the door. Much to his chagrin, she ignored him and came in anyhow.

"Let me guess: Jay Telford?" she said calmly as she stood in front of his desk, arms crossed above her chest.

"Gee, with skills of deduction such as yours you should consider a career in law enforcement, or something," Jack snapped back sarcastically. When she continued to look at him expectantly, he ground out an annoyed, "Yes!"

"I trust he's at least as bruised."

"Theoretically, I started it," Jack admitted reluctantly.

"And practically?"

"Practically, I was provoked. I think he was only waiting for me to do something so he could sock me in the face."

"Like anyone needs an excuse for that," Owen chimed in, having appeared at the door as well. He held up a piece of paper. "And that would be my preliminary autopsy report. And by preliminary I mean I took a quick glance at the body to exclude anything urgent and then did an half-arsed job so I can go home." He tossed the paper on Jack's desk. "I know now why your Weevil was so ragingly mad. Looks like the other two we captured were her children. Guess they were separated when they came through the Rift."

Jack looked at the report and felt a twinge of guilt. "Will the two children be able to survive without their mother?"

Owen shrugged. "Guess we'll find that out soon enough." He looked curiously at Jack's blood-stained handkerchief. "I thought I'd told you that beating up Ianto's boyfriend was a bad idea."

"Jack beat up Jay?" Tosh asked as she pushed past her other two team mates.

"What is this, a surprise party?" Jack exclaimed testily. "Can't a man be miserable and get drunk in the privacy of his own office?" To accentuate his complaint, he grabbed the bottle of bourbon and put it down on the desktop with a reverberating clunk.

Looking just the slightest bit thrown off, Tosh held up a stack of print-outs. "I have the current weather reports here. I thought you might want to take a look at them to make sure we can call off the alert."

"Oh fine, give them to me," Jack sighed and held out his hand. He leafed through the stack listlessly, looking at the relevant columns. "Looks like the storm's center passed us by just a hair's breadth. It made landfall further up north in Shropshire. That's good then. Means we don't have to worry about any more disturbances to the Rift tonight." He turned the page. "The windstorm caused significant damage, too. Most affected was…" He hesitated.

"Jack?" Gwen asked when he didn't continue.

"Telford," he muttered, lowering the pages to the desk.

Owen groaned. "Can't you continue your personal vendetta once we're all safe and sound at home in the cozy comfort of our own beds?"

Jack looked at the doctor, a deep frown furrowing his brows. "No, that's where it wreaked the most havoc. In the city of Telford."

"Huh, that's an odd coincidence…" Gwen mumbled, frowning as well. "But the name isn't that unusual, Jack."

"If this job has taught me one thing, it's that there are no coincidences," Jack said grimly. "Tosh, find out the meteorological classification of this windstorm. Do it now!" He watched her zoom out of the room, his fingers tapping the surface of his desk impatiently. When she returned, she was pale. And?" he barked.

"It's J."

"Bastard!" Jack shouted and jumped to his feet, knocking the heavy chair back against the wall. "I fucking knew it!"

"Knew what? It could still be a coincidence!" Gwen insisted. "This is hardly enough to warrant any brash decisions."

"Brash?" Jack pulled out the results of his investigation and threw them on top of the reports. "Everything about this guy is fake! Right up to his name!"

"But how could he know a storm with that classification would be hitting Telford today?"

Jack threw her an unrelenting look. "For the same reason we know the invasion of Normandy was on the 6th of June."

Gwen's eyes widened. "So, are you saying that…"

"Exactly," Jack ground out. He started for the door, but Gwen intercepted him.

"What are you doing, Jack?"

"I'm not sure yet, but breaking every bone in that fucker's body sounds like a good idea right now."

"You can't do that." Her face was stern.

Jack stared at her in disbelief. "I can't? Well, watch me." He tried to push past her but she wouldn't budge.

"Jack, listen to me. If you just barge in like a raging bull and drag Jay out of there merely based on the fact that he happens to be named after a city that was hit by a storm tonight, you think Ianto is going to accept that?" When Jack hesitated, she continued. "I trust your instincts. I really do. But please let us find out more first before doing this, because after that, things won't be the same again for Ianto."

Grudgingly, Jack had to admit she was right. "Fine. Then find me more information! Go!" He knew he was shouting, but he found it impossible to stay calm now. He felt a warm trickle down his chin and rubbed the blood away impatiently with the back of his hand. "Oh Goddammit, someone get me something for this cut already!" he yelled as he stomped back to his chair.

"That would be my cue then," Owen said with a dutiful sigh. He left the office and returned a moment later, carrying a tray of medical supplies. "You know… it's a rare occurrence, having to dress your wounds," he said as he dabbed the blood away from Jack's mouth.

"What do you mean? Ouch!" Jack shrank away from the cotton swab the doctor had pressed against the cut. "What the hell is this?"

"Believe me, you don't want to know." He dropped the bloody gauze on the tray. "Anyway, what I'm saying is that so far you were always the last one to require medical attention."

Jack scowled at him. "If it makes your job easier I could put a bullet through my brain. Then my wounds would regenerate in no time."

"Actually, it would! But I don't think Ianto would appreciate having to mop your gunk off the floor. And that's not what I mean. Even without the wounds being mortal they should heal up faster than with most people, shouldn't they?"

Jack frowned. "What are you getting at?"

Owen shrugged. "Just wondering if you're really still immortal and all."

Chuckling softly, Jack sought the other man's eyes. "Why Owen! I didn't think you cared!" The chuckle turned into a laugh at the other man's glare. "Don't worry, everything's still the same."

"If you say so. I just don't want you to find out you're wrong when you're lying on my autopsy table." Owen put the tray on Jack's desk. "By the way, where were you hiding the rest of that booze?"

Jack leaned over in his chair to look past the other man. "What do you mean? That bourbon?"

"Yeah. It was pretty good. It's not so often that one gets the pleasure of drinking a 23 year old bourbon. I had hoped to find more of that somewhere in your stash after I'd finished the first one, but no such luck. So I assume you hid it well."

Jack frowned. "That was the only bottle I had…" His fingers clawed into the armrest when realization struck him. "Owen, was Telford ever down here in the Hub?" he asked quietly.

"Not that I know of." Owen scrunched up his face, considering the question. "Hold on, that one time, two or three weeks ago when we all hit the pub together and Gwen sprained her ankle. He insisted on taking her to the examination room…"

"Tosh! Gwen!" Jack hollered, causing the other man to flinch in surprise.

A moment later, both women appeared at the door.

"What is it?" Gwen asked, looking startled.

"When you sprained your ankle three weeks ago, did you notice anything unusual?"

Gwen blinked at him. "Uh, I don't know. It wasn't that big of a deal! The heel of my shoe broke and I tripped on the stairs. I probably would have hurt myself a lot more if Jay hadn't been right there to catch me from falling all the way down."

"How awfully opportune of him to be there," Jack said sarcastically. "What happened to them?"

""What?"

"The shoes. Did you throw them away?"

She looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "No, of course not! I was going to take them to the cobbler to have the heel fixed. That was one of my favorite pairs!"

"So where are they?

"At my desk!"

"Go get them then!"

Jack waited impatiently for Gwen's return. As soon as she brought the shoes to his desk, he snatched them from her hands and inspected them. The heel of the left shoe was in a deplorable state, splintered and twisted to the side. Jack bent it back into place and frowned. It looked like a whole chunk was missing from the base. He squinted to look at it more closely. Something metallic shone inside of the damaged material.

Grabbing the pincers off Owen's tray, Jack pulled the tiny metal spike out of the splintered heel. He inspected it under the magnifying glass and swore under his breath. "A matter consumption device."

At his team's stumped expression, he explained, "It's like a miniature detonator, only it doesn't cause an explosion but instead consumes the matter around it. It's soundless and odorless. Perfect for picking locks without anybody noticing. We used those in the Time Agency all the time."

"And what would that be doing in my heel?" Gwen asked.

"I'm willing to bet that Telford put it there to destabilize your heel just enough for you to trip," Jack growled. He turned to Tosh. "Get me the CCTV footage for that day and time."

"I'm on it!" She scurried off to her workstation to fulfill the request. When Jack switched on his monitor, the first thumbnails had already appeared on it. He scrolled through them while the rest of his team positioned themselves behind him to watch.

"Here," Owen said, pointing at one of the thumbnails. "That's right after we entered the Hub. Jay's putting Gwen down on the examination table. After that he stood around with Ianto until we were all ready to leave again."

"And he was never alone?" Jack asked skeptically as he fast-forwarded through the footage that showed everyone hanging around the examination room while Owen treated Gwen's ankle.

"Actually…" Owen replied reluctantly. "I sent him and Ianto to grab ice from the fridge in the tea-kitchen once. But they were both together, not gone for long and had the requested ice, so I didn't think much about it."

"Well, let's check it out then." Jack brought up the recording of the section in question. It showed Ianto and Jay walking past the workstations towards the stairs. Jay's shoulder bag brushed past a stack of paper seemingly accidentally, causing it to slide down and the paper to scatter all over the floors.

Both men argued about it for a short moment until Jay pushed Ianto gently towards the stairs while he bent to pick up the mess he'd made. It didn't take more than a few seconds for Ianto to disappear from sight before Telford dropped what he'd be holding and hurried towards Jack's office.

"I knew it," Jack growled as he changed over to the CCTV footage of the office.

Telford didn't waste a lot of time. He went straight for the bottom drawer of the desk and pulled it open. Then he produced a bottle from his shoulder bag and dropped it into the drawer. His head jerked up, apparently alerted by Ianto's return, so he slammed the drawer shut again and rushed towards the door. As he whirled around, his sleeve got caught in the lamp and it slipped off the desk, but he caught it neatly before it even touched the ground.

"Cripes! Did you see that?" Gwen gasped. "I could hardly see his hands, so fast were they!"

On the video, Jay managed to slip out of the office and grab the stack of papers he'd abandoned just in time for Ianto to come around the corner, holding a tray of ice cubes. They exchanged a few words and kissed before disappearing out of the picture.

"The bastard dosed you!" Owen exclaimed, picking up the bottle. "I'm going to run a test on the content right away to find out what it was." He turned to leave but Jack held him back with a hand on his elbow.

"Leave it."

"But Jack!" Owen protested. "We need to find out what it was he put in there to make sure it's nothing dangerous."

"So what," Jack said with a careless shrug. "What if it's poison? Are you afraid I could die from it? There are more pressing matters at hand." He got up with a determined expression. "Gwen, would you agree that we now have enough evidence to warrant an arrest?" He cast her a cool glance.

She nodded. "Yes, Jack. I would say so." It pleased him to see that she looked just as determined as him. "What shall we do?"

Jack hesitated as guilty memories of the Lisa situation assaulted him. For a moment he wondered if Ianto was ever going to forgive him after this. To his dismay, he suddenly felt paralyzed.

Gwen must have sensed his distress. Her features softened and she put a gentle hand on his arm. "First of all we need to get Ianto out of there. Who knows what Jay will do when he realizes we're onto him."

Shooting her a grateful look, Jack turned to Tosh. "Gwen is right. Trace Ianto's earpiece to find out where he is. I've got good reason to believe he's with Telford right now." To Gwen and Owen he said, "Once we've got Ianto somewhere safe, we'll just go in and grab Telford. By force, if need be."

He grabbed his coat and pulled it on. Then he took out his gun and checked it. When he noticed Gwen's worried look, he said with a grim smile, "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill him. I'm going to make sure he'll answer all my questions before I even consider granting him that mercy."

Jack left the office and went to Tosh's workstation where she was just about to complete the trace.

"Ianto's definitely not at his apartment," she said, tapping the monitor where a small green dot was pulsating on a map.

"Does anyone have any idea where Telford lives?" Jack asked, crossing his arms over his chest to keep himself from fidgeting nervously. He couldn't help but going through his conversation with Telford word for word, wondering if he had said anything that would have prompted the other man to make a desperate move. Fear balled up in the pit of his stomach.

"I do," Gwen said as she stepped next to him, wearing her jacket and ready to go. She leaned in to look at the map. "Yup, I think they're at his place."

"Then let's roll."

In the car, Jack realized that their plan was missing yet another component. "Okay, so how do we get Ianto out of there?" he asked as he raced the car down the glistening street. The sky was dipped in a dirty gray as the rising sun started poking through the slowly dispersing layer of clouds.

"Let me handle that," Owen said with an air of lofty confidence. "I know the very thing that'll shoo him out of his hole in no time." When they turned into the street where Telford lived, he pulled out his mobile and pressed the speed dial for Ianto, lifting one finger to command everyone's attention as if he was about to give a remarkable performance.

"Ianto? Yes, yes… I know you barely got home. Sorry about that, mate. Listen, there's been a bit of an emergency. Looks like the storm caused the sewers to back up and now the water of the Bay was pushed into the basement. Yeah, I'm afraid the archive is affected, too… What? Uh, I don't know. I just sorta piled it all in one corner. It's just one big soggy ball of mush anyway. What do you mean I should have minded the categories? … Oh, okay. I guess you need to come in and do it yourself then because I really can't be bothered to deal with this. Okay. Bye."

Owen snapped the phone shut and gave them a triumphant look. "I expect him to come out any moment now. Unless they were in the middle of having sex, or something, in which case I expect him to take little longer."

They waited in the car for about five minutes before a light was switched on and shone through the small window at the front door. "There he is," Jack said when he saw Ianto open the door. He was alone. Jack shot Owen a quick look. "You know what to do."

The other man nodded as he got out of the car as well.

"What's going to happen?" Gwen whispered behind Jack, but he didn't reply. He signaled for her to stay behind as he grimly strode towards Ianto who was searching for something in his messenger bag. He looked up, startled, when he felt someone approach.

"Jack!" Ianto gasped when he saw him. "What are you doing here?" He frowned. "Is something wrong? I just got off the phone with Owen…"

Without answering, Jack stepped closer to the other man and put both hands on his shoulders. "I'm sorry, Ianto," he said softly.

Before Ianto even had a chance to reply, Owen appeared behind him and injected him right in the neck. The look of stunned disbelief Ianto gave him before he slumped forward broke Jack's heart. He gently cradled the unconscious man against his chest.

"What did you do?" Gwen hissed as she rushed towards them.

"Torchwood protocol 49-10," Jack replied curtly, lifting Ianto into his arms. As he carried him over to the SUV, he heard Owen recite behind him, "When the unconditional cooperation of a team member cannot be guaranteed due to emotional involvement, the person in question must be removed from the operation as soon as possible."

Gently, Jack placed Ianto on the backseat, arranging him to make sure that he was sitting comfortably. "He'll be out just long enough for us to arrest Telford and take him to the Hub," he explained, sensing Gwen's presence behind him. "It's easier this way, for all of us."

"I understand, Jack," she said softly behind him and somehow it helped ease the heavy weight of guilt on his heart. He straightened himself out, casting one last look at the sleeping man before turning around.

"Right then," he said after a strengthening breath. "In we go."

They entered the building and took the two flights of stairs until they stood in front of Telford's apartment. Jack pulled his gun and the other two followed suit. After another nod to his team, Jack opened the door with the key he had retrieved from Ianto's bag and pushed it open.

The living room was empty. It was dark with the exception of the floor lamp casting a dim light on the tasteful modern couch and low glass table in front of a flatscreen television. Jack gestured Owen and Gwen to follow him. He slowly walked across the paneled floor, intent on avoiding any sound.

The kitchenette bordering the living room was dark, just the clock of the microwave blinking green. A small corridor led away from the main area. It had two opposing doors on each side and one at the end of it. Just as Jack had started struggling with the decision which door to go for, one of them opened and Telford stepped out.

He saw them immediately and tensed for a moment before relaxing and turning towards them with a sly grin. "Oh my, you should have told me you were coming. I would have made a cake."

Jack raised his weapon and said, "Hands in the air and don't make a move, Telford. I know that's not your real name but I have to call you something."

The smile on the other man's face didn't falter as he raised his hands. "Guess that rules out a nice cup of coffee then."

"Step out into the living room!" Jack said, making sure to keep at a safe distance when Telford came closer. "Slowly. Now on your knees with your hands behind your head." To Gwen he said, "Be careful. You've seen how fast he can move."

Telford laughed softly as he kneeled down. "Don't worry, Harkness. I have no intention of letting you shoot me here in the middle of my living room. Blood stains are so difficult to get out. You should know."

Jack hesitated for a moment. He cast Gwen and Owen a quick look to make sure they had a good aim should Telford try anything. When he was sure that they had their guns trained on Telford, he put away his own and reached for the handcuffs. "I'm arresting you," Jack growled as he yanked the other man's hands down roughly. The cuffs closed around the wrists with a satisfying click.

"Now isn't that what you've always been longing to say?" Telford drawled mockingly.

It hadn't really been Jack's intention to play along with the taunts, but now he just couldn't stop himself. "Granted, the thought of that didn't keep me awake at night, but it does feel pretty good." He walked around the kneeling man to see his face.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," Telford said. "Didn't think it'd take you so long." His intense stare was only interrupted briefly when his eyes flitted to the side to look at Gwen and Owen. "Where's Ianto? Did you execute him for consorting with the enemy?"

Feeling the heat rise in his cheeks, Jack had to clench his teeth for a moment. "You're thinking a bit too much of yourself, Telford. You're not an enemy. For all I know you're nothing but a petty little troublemaker who got busted."

It gave Jack a tremendous feeling of satisfaction to see anger flare up in the other man's eyes.

"Guess you're not done with him yet then. Isn't that how you work, Harkness? First you fuck them and then they're fucked. It's just a matter of time," Telford replied, his usually so smooth voice having gained a certain edge.

For a moment, the rage that surged up inside of Jack seemed to overwhelm him. His hand shot forward and took Telford's throat in a viselike grip, lifting him off the ground a few inches. "Watch what you're saying, Telford," he growled softly. "I don't need a lot of reason to snap your neck right here and now."

A look of triumph lit up the other man's steely eyes as he drew a raspy breath and croaked, "Oh, but what would your team say if they saw the ruthless killer that you really are?"

"You know nothing about me," Jack ground out angrily, very close to Telford's face.

His reply was hardly a whisper. "I know more than you think, Agent 1712-K7."

Jack let go of the other man as if he'd been burned, taking a stunned step backwards. Telford collapsed on the floor and drew in a wheezing breath. When his shoulders started to shake, it took Jack a moment to realize that he was laughing.

"Is everything okay?" Gwen asked, staring at Telford with the same look of disgusted bewilderment that Jack felt. Nothing in her manner gave away whether or not she'd heard Telford's last line.

"Yeah," Jack replied, still feeling a little shaken. "Let's take him back to the Hub." He grabbed Telford roughly around the arm and dragged him to his feet. "Do a quick search of the place and take anything that might be suspicious."

"If you're looking for my gun, it's hidden under the floorboards at the bottom of my wardrobe," Telford called after Gwen who had moved to follow Jack's order. "But be careful not to set off any of the booby traps. The next-door neighbors have just finished redecorating."

Gwen stopped on her way to the bedroom and gave Jack an insecure look.

Jack cursed. "Just grab his jacket, mobile and wallet for now. We'll return later with the proper detection gear. No need to take stupid risks now. Let's move." With that he dragged Telford out of the apartment.

 

*******************************

 

When Jack entered the prison level, he immediately caught sight of Telford standing in his cell, a bored expression on his face and arms calmly crossed over his chest as if he was waiting for the bus. This air of indifference only served to increase Jack's dislike for the other man.

As soon as they had returned to the Hub, Jack had handed Telford over to Owen to take him to the vaults. Ianto had still been out cold, so Jack had taken it upon himself to carry him inside and lay him down on the sofa once it had been cleared of empty pizza boxes and magazines.

It had taken him a bit of effort to get Tosh off his case for drugging Ianto and have her agree to watch over him instead. Jack had trailed his hand once across Ianto's cheek, silently dreading the moment he'd wake up and demand answers. The urge to be able to provide them had prompted him to go see Telford as soon as he could instead of letting him stew for a while first.

Jack stepped up to the cell and looked at the other man coolly, taking the moment to size him up carefully. Telford returned his glance without any emotion. Jack wondered whether he should recognize him, whether their paths had crossed at some point, prompting him to do whatever his plans were. But as much as he tried he kept drawing up a blank.

"Did they send you?" he asked before he could stop himself.

Predictably, Telford reacted with a non-committal smile. "Now who would they be?"

"Stop playing around. You know exactly who I'm talking about!"

The smile stayed in place. "Maybe I do and I just want to hear you say it."

Jack stared at the other man, trying to find the slightest hint of what game he was playing. "Who are you?" he said instead.

Telford yawned ostentatiously. "Oh, I find it so tedious, standing here, answering all your questions. It's so one-sided."

"That's how it usually goes when you're the one inside the cell. Besides, I get the feeling our acquaintance started out somewhat one-sided to begin with. You seem to know a lot more about me than I know about you."

An expression of pride hushed across the other man's face. "I probably do."

"Then why not let me in on it? Where's the fun if you don't play along."

Telford raised his eyebrows at him mockingly. "Does anyone you try to interrogate ever fall for that, Harkness?"

"I know Telford isn't your real name."

"And Jack isn't yours."

"It's who I am now," Jack replied without a moment's hesitation. "Are you seriously telling me that 'Jay Telford' is who you are now? A well-adjusted insurance salesman with a designer couch who hangs around in coffee bars to get a date and who has to bother his boyfriend at work to coax a blowjob out of him?"

For a brief moment, anger distorted the other man's handsome features as he dropped his arms to his sides and stepped closer to the glass door. "The name is Varot. Jeroen Varot, and the fact that telling you this is useless because the name means nothing to you is a far greater source of frustration to me than your silly little taunts."

Jack's mind latched onto this new piece of information, but it really didn't ring a bell. He watched Telford, or Varot rather, as he had to remind himself, struggle to regain his cool exterior and turn his back to him. "Why did you come here?" Jack asked.

Varot didn't reply.

"What did you want from Ianto?"

The other man laughed softly and shook his head. "Ianto is not important at all."

"That's where you're wrong," Jack said softly, causing the other man to turn around again. "Should I find that anything you've done has caused him any kind of harm, you're not going to make it out of here alive."

The smile that appeared on Varot's face sent a chill down Jack's spine. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear that."

The beep on his earpiece saved Jack from needing to come up with a reply. He touched it. "Yes?"

"Jack," Tosh said. "Ianto's awake."

"I'll be right there." He cast Varot one last look. "Don't get too comfortable in your cell. I'll be back shortly and then I'm going to beat the answers out of you." Then he spun around on his heel and rushed back to the main area of the Hub.

He already heard Ianto's voice at the stairs. He sounded just as agitated as Jack had expected him to be. When he came around the corner, he saw Ianto standing in the center of the Hub, shaky on his legs and holding onto the handrail, while Tosh stood a little away from him, talking calmly. Owen and Gwen had wisely chosen not to be around.

"Ianto, at least sit down for a moment," Tosh pleaded softly.

"No! I want to know what's going on right now!  Don't you think I know why you've drugged me?" Ianto turned around and spotted Jack. "You!" he exclaimed, taking an unsteady step forward, immediately faltering and sagging against the banister.

Jack was at his side in no time, reaching for his arm to hold him up, but Ianto yanked himself free from the grasp.

"Don't touch me!" he spat, looking at Jack with accusing eyes. "Where's Jay? You arrested him, right? You pulled a 49-10 on me, didn't you? Or maybe a 49-13. Either way, I want to know why."

"Yes," Jack replied calmly. "You're right. And you deserve the answers. But please be reasonable and sit down here for a moment and wait for the effects of the drug to wear off completely. I don't want you to fall and hurt yourself."

For a moment, Ianto looked as if he was going to resist Jack's gentle nudging towards the nearest seat, which happened to be Owen's workstation, but then he grudgingly complied and sank down on the chair heavily.

"Tosh, could you get Ianto a glass of water and an aspirin?" Jack asked her, not taking his eyes off the other man. He heard her mumble a quick reply and hurry off. "How are you feeling?" Jack asked gently.

"Like you care," Ianto replied angrily.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic! You know the protocols, I had no choice."

Ianto pressed his lips together, looking like a defiant boy for a moment. Then he said, "I know the protocols, but I don't know why you chose to evoke them." He took the glass from Tosh, thanking her softly. Then he downed the pill with a large sip of water. "So, tell me."

To buy himself some time, Jack walked around to the desk to lean against it casually. He knew that he had to tread carefully now. "We have pretty much confirmed that Jay isn't who he claims to be. He's operating under a fake name, something which he has in fact confirmed to me already. His real name is Jeroen Varot."

A small gasp from Tosh made Jack take his eyes off Ianto briefly. He gave her a nod of confirmation to run a search on that name. Then he continued, "We actually realized this when we looked through the weather reports and saw that his name was basically a composition of the meteorological classification of today's storm and where it hit."

Jack gave Ianto a moment to digest this. "This alone leads me to believe that he has at least some knowledge of the future. Why he put that sort of time limit on his own cover I don't know. My best guess is that he wanted us to discover him, strange as it sounds." Jack watched Ianto's face closely, but his expression remained impenetrable.

"You can't have based the arrest solely on that though," Ianto said, his voice blank. "This could be a coincidence… anything."

Jack nodded seriously. "Yes, we know that. Gwen pointed out the same thing. But there's more to it. As it turns out, he's been dosing me with something."

Ianto looked up, his eyes wide and confused. "Dosed you…" he whispered. "How…"

"He planned it carefully. He even fixed Gwen's heel with a small detonator to cause her to fall, just to get into the Hub. Look at this." Jack reached around to the computer and played the scene from the CCTV which Tosh had already sent to the workstation. Ianto watched it quietly, his expression turning more and more withdrawn as the images of Varot's deception flickered across the screen. When it was over, Jack gave him a moment to compose himself.

Owen appeared at the door to the autopsy room with perfect timing, holding up a computer printout whose jagged edge showed that it had been hastily torn from the printer. "I've got preliminary results from the analysis of the bourbon."

"Yes?" Jack looked at the doctor expectantly.

"Curb your enthusiasm. The results are crap because the computer couldn't match the substance with the database. I'll need to dig deeper. At any rate, it's of alien origin, but it's non-toxic. I'm guessing it's some kind of enzyme. We'll know more later."

Jack frowned. "Why would he want me to take that?"

Owen shrugged in response. "No idea. But he didn't want to poison you, that's for sure."

The frown on Jack's face deepened. "That doesn't make sense. Somehow nothing he does makes sense!" He groaned in frustration and turned around. The look on Ianto's face made his irritation dissipate immediately.

"Including dating me…" Ianto said in an empty voice, still looking at the monitor that was freeze-framed on Varot pulling the prepared bottle out of his bag. Slowly, he moved his eyes away from the sight and looked at Jack instead.

"I suppose I always knew," Ianto said softly. "You all knew. There was something strange about someone so handsome and sexy going for me…" The pain in his voice made Jack's throat tighten for a moment. "Why would anyone want me?"

"I wanted you," Jack said hoarsely, oblivious of the other people in the room. For a moment suspended in time, they were looking at each other. For just that moment, the expression of hurt on Ianto's face gave way to something else. Jack couldn't quite place it, so he focused all his attention on the other man who was about to speak.

But that never happened. Before Ianto got to formulate an answer, they were interrupted by Gwen bursting through the main door, holding a cardboard tray containing five cups of coffee. "What's going on? Why is Ianto up already?" she asked as she rushed towards them. Her eyes darted to the monitor and they widened when she saw what was featured on it. She threw Jack an accusing glance which he met defiantly.

"Ianto woke up and demanded answers," he said, fighting down an inexplicable feeling of disappointment.

"And you just gave them to him?" Gwen was clearly upset.

"He had a right to know," Jack ground out.

Gwen wasn't impressed by his scowl. "Knowing you, you probably didn't tread very carefully! You probably crushed poor Ianto!"

"I'm sitting right here, you know," Ianto pointed out. He sounded tired, his voice devoid of the playful tone that he usually would have adopted in a situation like this.

Gwen looked at him guiltily. "I know. I'm sorry, Ianto." She handed him one of the cups from the tray. "I thought maybe you could use a nice cup of coffee."

Reluctantly, Ianto took it from her, looking grief-stricken all of a sudden. Gwen noticed it and cast Jack a confused look as Ianto held the cup in his trembling hand without making any attempt to drink from it.

It took Jack a moment to catch on. "That's the same place Telford, I mean, Varot got his coffee from," he explained, gently plucking the cup from Ianto's numb fingers.

Gwen's face fell. "Oh shit… I'm really sorry, Ianto!" She quickly put the tray out of his sight. "I wasn't thinking," she said, bending towards Ianto and putting a compassionate hand on his shoulder, but he ignored her, just staring ahead.

"I want to talk to him," Ianto finally said after a seemingly endless stretch of silence.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Jack said carefully, inwardly screaming his refusal.

The look that Ianto gave him was full of determination and made Jack realize that he was fighting a losing battle. "I must see him," Ianto insisted.

"All right," Jack conceded reluctantly. "I'll take you downstairs then and…"

"No. I want to talk to him alone." Ianto met his glance firmly.

"There's no way in hell I'm leaving you alone with that guy," Jack exploded. He tried to stare down the other man angrily, but it seemed as if no matter what he threw at him, it was absorbed by Ianto's cool resolve.

"I must know," the other man said calmly.

Jack sighed in defeat. "Fine. But I'll be watching on the CCTV."

"Fair enough." Ianto got up, swaying softly on his feet as he did so.

Automatically, Jack reached out to support the other man. "Christ, at least wait until you're fully functional again."

"I'm fine!" Ianto insisted, brushing off his hands.

Jack threw Owen a look, pleading for assistance. The doctor reacted at once and approached Ianto, whipping out his penlight. "You're pupils are still dilated," he noted after flashing Ianto's eyes a couple of times. "Your body has taken quite a beating in the past 24 hours, Ianto. You really should give it a rest and come back tomorrow…"

"No," Ianto interrupted him firmly. "It was your choice to drug me, not mine. I'm not going to sit around just to ease your bad conscience. I want to see Jay now."

Owen shrugged at Jack with a grimace of 'I tried' and stepped aside to let Ianto pass.

"Take a gun with you," Jack insisted.

Ianto stopped and looked at him as if he'd gone mad. "I don't need a gun."

"Take it or you're not going. This one's not up for discussion. That man is dangerous." Jack thrust the shoulder holster at Ianto that he'd picked up from the desk.

"Fine!" Ianto agreed testily and snatched it out of Jack's hand, putting it on clumsily. Then he pushed past him.

Jack hurried to catch up with him. "His name isn't Jay. It's Jeroen Varot. Remember that. He's not the guy he made you believe he was over the past six months. You mustn't believe anything he tells you."

Ianto ignored him as he pressed forward. Before he got to open the door to the vault however, Jack managed to slip in front of him and block his entry. "Say you'll be careful." When Ianto persistently kept silent, avoiding his look, Jack put a gentle hand under the other man's chin and lifted it until their eyes met. "Don't let him break you," he said softly. "You're stronger than that. I know this hurts right now, but you'll pull through this like you always have. And I'll always be there for you."

"Is that a promise?" Ianto asked softly, his eyes glistening suspiciously.

Jack nodded slowly. Every fiber in his body was aching to lean down and brush a kiss against the other man's lips and make that look of heartbreak go away, but he held himself in check once more. He released Ianto quickly before the urge got too strong. "I'll be watching," he announced as he stepped aside. "Wait a minute or so until I'm at the monitors before you go inside."

Once Ianto nodded his consent, Jack patted his shoulder one more time before leaving him behind. As he climbed the stairs towards the Hub he couldn't help but feel an odd sense of foreboding. Every instinct he had told him that this was a bad idea and yet he knew that he owed Ianto this. He only wished his other debts were as easily settled.

Back at the Hub, Jack went straight for his office. His team filed in behind him as he punched the monitor on and reached for the alien sound device, tuning it in on the vault. Tosh appeared next to him, her eyes wide.

"Is that one of those bugs we scavenged from the cruiser that crashed near Barry a while back?"

"Yup." He fiddled with the setting a bit. On the monitor, Ianto could be seen, reluctantly waiting at the door to the cells. Judging by his behavior he wasn't still keeping his promise to Jack, but instead struggling to pluck up the courage to go inside. Finally, Ianto took a deep breath and walked through the door. Jack switched the camera angle.

"Didn't think I'd see you here," Varot said.

"Since when do we have sound in the vaults?" Owen asked.

"Since recently. Quiet now."

"Does Ianto know?" Gwen asked, sounding just as surprised as Owen.

"No," was Jack's curt reply. He wasn't about to waste time explaining his motives to his team. With an impatient flick of his wrist he cut off Gwen's moral outburst before it began. Fortunately, Ianto hadn't answered yet. He continued to lean against the heavy iron door, staring at Varot in his cell.

"I had to see you." Ianto said after a while.

"With a gun?" Varot replied, nodding in his direction.

Ianto looked down on himself. Then he pulled the gun out of the holster and put it on the table. Jack swore under his breath.

"I need answers."

Varot approached the glass door and put his palms against it. "I don't think you're going to like them." Jack noted how different his voice sounded now that he was talking to Ianto. The vicious twist was completely gone and he almost sounded like his former self again. In a way Jack was glad that Varot spared Ianto that pain, but it also made him wonder about ulterior motives. It was clear that deception was his strong point.

Reluctantly, Ianto drew closer. "Was everything a lie?" The tremble in Ianto's voice was barely noticeable, but Jack could tell how emotional the other man was right now.

Varot shrugged. "I'm afraid so."

For a moment, Ianto lost his carefully maintained control and dropped his face into his hands, letting out a strangled sob. Jack watched Varot's face closely, but the other man showed no reaction while Ianto's face was buried in his hands. Just as he was about to lift it again, a faint impression of compassion appeared on Varot's face, right in time for Ianto to see.

"But why?" Ianto asked softly. "Why the pretense? Why me?"

"It wasn't personal," Varot replied.

"You call spending nearly every day for the past six months with me not personal?"

Varot shrugged. "It was part of the job."

"What job?"

A placid expression washed across the other man's features. "You wouldn't understand if I told you." He turned his back to Ianto. "Besides, it doesn't matter anymore, does it. I'm not going to make it out of here alive. As soon as Harkness returns he'll eliminate me."

Ianto looked shocked. "What are you talking about? Jack would never do such a thing!"

In his office, Jack tensed, suddenly feeling guilty.

Ianto continued. "If it's true what they're saying, that you're from the future, they're going to try to figure out where you're from exactly and then contact UNIT to take you back there to face the proper authorities."

Varot turned back at him. "Is that so." He regarded Ianto thoughtfully for a long moment. "Well, guess I'm in for a long wait then," he said, the easy-going smile that seemed like such an integral part of him once more playing around his lips. "I only wish they had left me my smokes before they stuck me into this cell though." His eyes flickered over to the table next to Ianto. "I understand if you refuse, but I don't suppose you could hand me my cigarettes, could you?"

Following Varot's eyes, Ianto looked at the table where all of the other man's personal effects were spread out. "I don't think I should," he said reluctantly.

Jack turned in his seat and cast Owen a stern look. "Okay, why is his stuff there and not up here?"

"Uh, guess I forgot…" Owen replied meekly.

"Good thing you didn't forget to lock the cell door too then!"

Down in the cell, Ianto was still considering the pack of cigarettes indecisively.

"It's okay," Varot said, once again leaning against the glass door. "I know you've always hated me smoking. Guess you won't have that problem anymore."

That comment must have hit home as Ianto immediately looked guilty. He looked at the pack of cigarettes again, then picked it up. "I suppose one cigarette won't hurt."

Jack tightened his jaw at how effortlessly Varot had gotten Ianto to comply as he watched him open the package, take one cigarette out and push it through the hole in the door.

Varot accepted it with a brilliant smile and stuck it between his lips. "Thanks, baby. Got fire, too?"

Ianto had stiffened at the sound of the familiar endearment. He blindly reached for Varot's silver lighter on the table and handed it through the hole to the other man who, seemingly unfazed by Ianto's sudden coldness, lit his cigarette and blew circles into the air.

"Aaah… feeling so much better already." Varot closed his eyes and leaned against the wall of his cell. "Stupid habit, I know. There's a reason why it was banned in the 23rd century. But it's so good! Definitely one of the perks of this time."

Ianto eyed him curiously. "So it's true? That you're from the future?"

Varot didn't reply right away. Instead he finished smoking his cigarette slowly before flicking the butt to the floor and grinding into in the tiles with his shoe. "Of course it's true," he then said, letting the silver lighter dangle from his long fingers as he approached the door. "I arrived about two weeks before Harkness disappeared. I had barely finished my preliminary investigation and setting up a new identity by the time he was gone."

He tossed the lighter into the air and caught it. "In a way I was grateful for the extra time it afforded me. When I realized that I couldn't follow through with my original plan, I had to amend it based on the new information I had gathered."

"What was your original plan then," Ianto asked, sounding timid as if he didn't really want to know.

Varot bared his teeth in a chilly smile. "To kill him, of course." He laughed softly when Ianto gasped. "I still have a minor score to settle with him, you know. Too bad that his departure messed up my schedule just the tiniest bit. Good thing time can be so relative when you stop thinking of it in linear terms."

Casually, Varot stuck his hands in his pockets, his eyes lost in the distance. "But that's all right. I knew Harkness would be back eventually. That's the good thing about being from the future. The unfortunate drawback to my plans turned into quite a blessing when I realized that finally I had Harkness where I wanted him. After all these years of pursuit, of trying to catch up with his restless roaming around he'd finally settled down."

"So you really planned all this? Meeting me, getting close to me…" Ianto's voice sounded strained.

Varot cast him a pitying glance. "I told you it was nothing personal. If Harkness had shown serious interest in someone else I would have gone after that person."

Ianto made a strangled sound and turned his back to Varot. The CCTV caught the battle on Ianto's face, torn between heartbreak, disappointment and anger. Upstairs in the office, everyone watched in silent sympathy.

"Don't cry, Ianto," Varot said smoothly to the other man's back, his voice void of compassion. "It was all for a good cause, believe me." He watched the man in front of him with a dispassionate expression. His hand wandered from his pocket and pulled out the lighter once more.

"You know…" he said casually as he twirled it between his fingers. "That's the other good thing about being from the future." The lighter stilled in his hand. "You can use technology no one knows how to check for."

He made a rapid movement with his hand. Suddenly, the front of the lighter slid to the side, revealing a control panel. He pressed something on it and the cell door opened with a soft hiss. Varot slipped out of the cell and moved towards the table, grabbing Ianto's gun that lay there between the rest of his things. It all happened so fast that by the time Ianto turned around, alerted by the sound of the cell door opening, he already found the gun trained on his chest.

"Shit!" Jack yelled as he jumped to his feet, nearly knocking over Gwen who had leaned forward to see better. He dashed to the door. "Tosh! Put the sound stream of the CCTV on my earpiece!" he shouted as he ran towards the stairs. "Gwen, Owen, get your guns and guard the exit. Don't let him leave, no matter what!"

Jack ran so fast that the air was burning in his lungs. All the while his heart was thudding in his chest and there was no denying that it was with fear for Ianto. "I guess we'll be getting company soon," he heard Varot's smooth voice on his earpiece. He reached the steel door in record time, but just before he could throw his weight into it to push it open, the heavy bolts of the door slammed into place and locked it.

"No!" Jack yelled as he smashed his fists against the solid steel. Through the thick porthole he could see Varot holding up the silver lighter with a mock apologetic shrug. "Tosh, override the lockdown on the door to the cells in level 3!" he shouted into his headset.

"Sorry, but three's a crowd," Varot said into the earpiece. "I'd like some alone time with Ianto."

While he had been distracted with that, Ianto had taken the opportunity to make a move towards the door, but Varot had him around the wrist before he even got close to it and pulled him back hard.

"Ianto, your rejection wounds me," he said silkily as he drew Ianto's back against his chest, nudging his chin up with the barrel of the gun.

"Jay, please stop…"

"Oh, stop calling me that, for fuck's sake!" Varot exploded, causing Ianto to jerk at the sudden eruption. "I'm so sick and tired of this guy! Stupid, doting Jay who's always so spineless and insipid and fulfills his angsty boyfriend's every wish. How sick I am of him!"

He laughed at Ianto's futile struggling. "Oh yes, keep rubbing up against me like that. You know what I like." Ianto stopped immediately. "What? Where's the subservient, docile Ianto that I've enjoyed so profusely for the past few months? You're not going to deprive me now of the only thing that made spending time with you sufferable, are you?" He ran his lips along the other man's throat.

The noise Ianto made sounded like a mix between a sob and an angry growl as he strained to get away.

Varot chuckled. "What? Are you going to pretend now that we didn't have great sex? I will admit it was all part of the plan, but the fact that you were such a good fuck was an added bonus. Don't worry, I made sure that Jack knows that I used your body every night. You think he cares?"

"No, I don't," Ianto ground out. His eyes moved over to the porthole.

Jack met them with his own, wondering if Ianto really thought so. He did in fact care. So much that he felt ready to break the steel door with his bare hands any moment now.

"Oh, I think he does," Varot said smoothly. "Look at him. Maybe he's imagining me fucking you night after night right now and it's making him crazy."

"Don't listen to him!" Jack shouted, knowing how useless it was through the thick iron door.

Sure enough, Varot reacted with a wicked grin. "Aw look, he's trying to talk to you," he drawled, twisting Ianto's head around to face Jack. "Too bad we can't hear him. I wonder what he's saying… maybe he's saying, 'Go ahead and shoot him, I've grown tired of him anyway.' Hm, no, I don't think that's it. Maybe he's asking us to put on a show for him. What do you think?"

"Fucking bastard!" Jack yelled at Varot angrily.

"See, I know he likes to watch," he murmured as he moved his other hand up Ianto's throat, rubbing one finger casually across the other man's lips. "He watched us yesterday when I fucked your pretty mouth, did you know that? I'm sure it turned him on… you're such a sexy sight when you're down on your knees."

Varot chuckled at Ianto's outraged cry. "Oh yes, he's such a voyeur and he's listening in on us this very moment. Can't you see it on his face?"

"Tosh, what's going on?" Jack yelled angrily, holding Ianto's stare.

"I'm working on it, Jack! It's not that easy!"

"Hurry, dammit!"

"He seems rather upset to me though, don't you think?" Varot said mockingly as he looked at Jack as well. "Why don't you wave and say hello?" He loosened his grip around the other man.

As soon as Ianto's arms were free, he used them to elbow Varot in the pit of his stomach and make a dash for the door, but Varot recovered sooner than expected and fired a shot into the ground, right in front of Ianto. "Stop," he said coldly, raising the gun to point at Ianto's chest once more.

"Jack won't care that much if you shoot me," Ianto said defiantly as he stared back at the man threatening him.

"You think so? He's so annoyingly 51st century, isn't he, with his carefree approach to love and relationships. It would take a real tragedy to make him realize just how much he cares." Varot raised the gun to Ianto's head. "I think I can make him care."

"God, Tosh, do something, anything!" Jack stared at the gun pointing at Ianto, as if by sheer force of mind he could will it to not go off.

"I… I've got an idea!"

"Do it now!"

A second later the vaults, hallway and everything around Jack was plunged into total darkness. Beyond the heavy door there was a shout and the sound of a body slamming into another. Hands connected with skin and someone yelped. Then a shot cracked through the darkness, reverberating off the walls.

For one terrible moment, Jack didn't dare to breathe. He strained to hear anything on his earpiece but it seemed as if the gunshot had swallowed any other sound. He forced himself back into action and barked into the earpiece, "Turn the lights back on!"

"One moment, Jack!" The worry in Tosh's voice was obvious. "Got it!"

The lights flickered back on, blinding Jack for a moment. At the same time, the bolts of the door slid back. Jack lost no time, pushed against it and stormed into the room.

He found Ianto kneeling on the floor, the gun hanging from his loose fingers. In front of him, Varot lay face down, the puddle of blood underneath his body slowly spreading outwards. Jack took only a moment to assess the situation. Ignoring the body, he sank to his knees next to Ianto, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I shot him," Ianto whispered blankly, not looking at Jack.

"It was self-defense," Jack said, squeezing the other man's shoulders.

Slowly, Ianto turned to look at him. As soon as he connected with Jack, tears welled up in his eyes. He dropped the gun, a metallic clatter on the tiled floor, as his hand shot up to his mouth, clasping over it. "Oh God, I shot him," he sobbed.

"There was nothing you could do," Jack said gently. "He would have shot you."

"But I don't understand!"

"Sssh, it's okay." Without thinking twice, Jack pulled Ianto into his arms, rubbing his hands carefully across the other man's back. "Are you injured?" he said close to Ianto's ear.

Ianto shook his head wordlessly, his tears wetting Jack's cheek.

"Are you sure you're not hurt? Maybe the shock…"

"Jack!" Ianto pulled back, his teary eyes now sparking with anger. "I hurt all over! But no, he hasn't caused me any physical injury." As he looked at Jack, a lonely tear ran down his cheek.

Gently, Jack caught it and rubbed it away with his thumb. He could tell that the thin shell of Ianto's control was about to crack. "All right. Let's get you out of here then." He got up and then offered Ianto his hand to help him up as well, but it was ignored.

Slowly, Ianto pulled himself up, carefully avoiding looking at the bloody corpse at his feet.

"Gwen, Owen, you can come down now," Jack said into his earpiece. He cast Ianto a quick glance, making sure he was at a safe distance before bending down and turning Varot onto his back.

There was a gaping hole right in the center of his chest and the entire front of his shirt was soaked with blood. Jack put two fingers against the other man's throat anyhow. When he couldn't detect a pulse, he felt satisfaction as well as regret at the fact that he hadn't been the one to put the bullet through him.

Jack was just getting up again when Owen and Gwen came into the room. Gwen immediately went over to Ianto who was standing in one corner, face buried in his hands. He let her hug him as he continued to cry silently.

"Is he dead?" Owen asked grimly as he stepped up next to Jack.

"Yeah."

"Too bad."

Jack flashed him a tired grin. "I know that feeling. Just get him to the morgue and we'll deal with him later."

Owen nodded. After a moment's hesitation he said, "Jack… all the things he said…"

"I know," Jack interrupted him curtly. Then he added, "I can honestly say that I have no idea what he was talking about." It wasn't even a lie. Ever since Varot had revealed himself, Jack's mind had been racing to try and figure out who he could be, but he kept drawing up blanks. "Guess we won't get those answers out of him anymore."

"Not bloody likely," Owen agreed.

"Jack, I think Ianto should go home soon. He's dead on his feet," Gwen called from the other side of the room as she lead Ianto towards the door.

Feeling a bit guilty about not having thought of removing the other man from the room sooner, Jack quickly joined them. "Yes, of course, but I want Owen to give him a quick physical. Just in case."

"Jack…" Ianto protested weakly, but he shut him up with one raised finger.

"No discussion. This is a direct order. Once I know everything is okay with you I'm personally going to see you home."

Ianto just shrugged in reply and followed Gwen upstairs.

When Jack could be sure that Ianto was submitting to Owen's physical as ordered, he retreated to his office. He was immediately greeted with the sight of the now static image of the cell, Varot's body lying in the center of it. Quickly, Jack switched off the monitor.

He sat down heavily on his chair for a moment. His mind was racing to process everything that had just happened, but he felt unable to. It all seemed too much. Yet there was one thing he needed to know before anything else.

Jack got up and went over to the safe, opening it with practiced speed. He removed a couple of boxes until he got to his private compartment. He opened the additional lock on it with his fingerprint and pulled out the steel strongbox.

A feeling of nostalgia swept through him when he looked at all the small bits and pieces he had accumulated over the years. Not many of them were from his actual past, before he had become the man he was now. He used to have holographic pictures of his parents, a long time ago, but at some point the batteries had run out and rendered them a useless piece of junk. That was when he had stopped keeping pictures.

When he had been forced to leave the Time Agency, he hadn't brought a lot of things. There hadn't been time. But one thing he had thought to bring. He had always considered it some kind of life insurance, should the Time Agency ever decide to come after him. After all, it was good to know your enemy.

It had been a long time since he'd last seen it. The small device the size of a cigarette box lay in his hand with surprising weight. The shiny white surface gave no indication of its valuable content.

When Jack pressed a button invisible on the smooth shell the device came to life, a round dial appearing in the center of it. 'Authorization,' the display above it prompted in bright red. Reluctantly, Jack lay his index finger on the dial. A red light went around it until the entire circle turned green and the display showed, "Authorization complete. Time Agent recognized." The database interface opened up.

Jack's finger hovered against the dial, considering what to search for now. Many agents such as himself weren't even listed with their full names. Would Varot be different? Shrugging, Jack entered the name. Much to his surprise, the display filled with row after row of information almost instantly. Slowly, he scrolled through it.

"Jeroen Varot,

"Born October 26th 5023 (37),

"Dependents: wife Liana Varot,

"Age of Recruitment: 22,

"Security level 7."

Jack skipped through the section of known associates as those would hardly be relevant now. He scanned the list of missions, but none of them really rang a bell either. The more he read about Varot the less likely it seemed they had ever crossed paths.

According to this, Varot was some kind of a genius. The list of his specialties and degrees seemed to go on forever and most of them involved some kind of scientific subject that Jack could only take a rough guess at what they meant.

Even without those two years missing from his memory, Jack just couldn't see himself associating with a lab rat like Varot must have been. So how had he earned himself such antagonism from the other man and such grim determination to pursue it?

Not feeling any more the wiser, Jack put the file on the desk and leaned back in his chair, mulling things over once more. He soon reached the conclusion that he'd never receive the answers that he was so desperate to hear.

Sighing softly, Jack abandoned his attempt to find out more about Varot and got up. When he entered the examination room, he saw Ianto just about to put his jacket back on. Owen had his back turned to the door and was writing something down on his clipboard. When he turned back at Ianto, he was holding a small container of pills in his hands.

"What's this?" Ianto asked, eyeing the bottle warily.

"A mild sedative. It'll help you get some rest."

Ianto's face hardened as he straightened out his tie. "I don't want it. My judgment is impaired enough already as it is, don't you think?" He cast Jack a stern look, clearly expecting support.

Owen shrugged. "Suit yourself. It's your funeral, mate. Just make sure you get some rest to get that pulse of yours down. Don't want to give yourself a heart attack from all the stress."

Upon hearing this, Jack stepped forward, alarmed. "Is there a risk?"

It appeared as if Owen only realized now that Jack was standing there. "Well, he's young and healthy, so I'd say no. But that still doesn't mean he shouldn't take it easy for a while now. A body can only take so much before it breaks down."

"Then I will personally see to it that he slows down," Jack promised with determination as he stepped next to Ianto and put a hand on his shoulder.

Ianto gave him a mildly amused look. "And how are you going to do that?"

"Tie you to the bed, if I have to. But for the time being I think a hot bath is just the thing you need right now."

"You know," Ianto said, looking at him thoughtfully. "In the old days you would have thrown in a nice, slow fuck for good measure."

Surprisingly, Jack felt an embarrassed heat crawl up his cheeks. "Well, it didn't seem appropriate at this particular moment," he explained after a stunned pause.

"But maybe that is exactly what I need." The look that Ianto directed at him was unwavering and penetrating. For a moment, Jack didn't know what to say.

"Uh right. This will be my cue to call it a night. Or day, rather," Owen cut into the tension as he walked over to the chair and grabbed his jacket from it. "I've been up way too long to listen to this. And get some bloody rest, Ianto." They both watched him make his exit before looking at each other again.

"Come on, I'll take you home," Jack said thickly. To his endless relief, Ianto just nodded obligingly and let himself be led out of the room.

 

*******************************

 

Feeling strangely gentlemanly, Jack took the keys from Ianto's hand and opened the door for him. When he stepped inside after the other man, he took a curious look around, wondering what had changed since he'd last been here. He soon realized that he wouldn't really be able to tell anyway. The few times he'd been to this place, all he'd really been interested in had been the beeline to the bedroom.

"Thanks for taking me home," Ianto interrupted his musings tiredly. "You can go back to the Hub now." He took off his jacket and put it neatly on a coat-hanger before hanging it in the wardrobe. When Jack didn't move he looked at him. "I'm fine, really."

"Let's see about that," Jack said as he shrugged out of his coat and tossed it on the couch. "For now I'm going to make sure that you get the rest that the doctor prescribed." He rubbed his hands together ambitiously. "So! Are you hungry? Where's your kitchen?"

Ianto winced visibly. "Would you believe me if I told you I don't have one?"

Jack couldn't help but grin at the other man's distress. "You think I've forgotten those fantastic sandwiches you made for us that one night?"

"I'm really not hungry yet. I just want some sleep."

Taking pity on the other man, Jack dropped his hands. "All right. Hot bath it is then. No discussion," he added quickly when Ianto got ready to object once again. "And this time I know the way." He put one hand on Ianto's shoulder and guided him towards the bathroom.

As expected, Ianto possessed a large amount of different soaps and scented oils that made for a nice bubble bath. As Jack was running it, he noticed Ianto standing there in the middle of the room, hovering about insecurely.

After testing the water temperature, Jack turned towards the other man. "You know, you can just undress and hop in. There's nothing I haven't seen already. No need delaying the inevitable."

Clearly embarrassed but apparently accepting the logic, Ianto started peeling out of his clothes. Jack made it a point not to look at him while he did so, sensing the slight discomfort in the other man with a pang of regret. He waited patiently for Ianto to finish folding his clothes carefully, keeping himself busy with washing his hands. Eventually, he heard the soft slosh as Ianto slipped into the warm water with a contented sigh.

"Good?" Jack asked as he pulled up a stool and sat down next to the tub, close to Ianto's head.

"Yes…" Ianto mumbled sleepily, sinking deeper into the water.

"Easy, my lifeguard skills are a little rusty," Jack said jokingly, putting one hand on Ianto's shoulder. The sudden contact with such a large patch of naked skin was electrifying and sent flashes of memories through Jack's brain as he withdrew his hand again.

To cover up, he leaned over to reach for the sponge that was dangling down by the tap. He soaked it with soapy water and wrung it out over Ianto's neck. The comfortable purr that the other man emitted sent an involuntary shiver down Jack's spine.

"You really don't have to do that," Ianto repeated, all the while clearly enjoying being rubbed down gently with the warm sponge.

"I know that," Jack replied as he drew a trail of foam across Ianto's shoulder. Through the water he saw several bruises covering the other man's chest. Probably from the Weevil attack, he concluded as he continued to wash away the final traces of today's events.

"I guess I really did believe him," Ianto said, very softly after a while.

Jack frowned, dabbing away water from the nape of the other man's neck. "Believe what?"

"That he cared for me… maybe even loved me. He sounded so sincere." Ianto laughed without humor. "To think I actually lay awake at night, feeling bad about not being able to love him back the same way." The bitterness left Ianto's voice until it was just blank. "But it was all a lie. He never loved me in the first place. I shouldn't be surprised. Who would."

Jack paused in his motion. He dropped the sponge and carefully put his hand on Ianto's shoulder. Then he whispered hoarsely, "I could love you."

There was no surprise on Ianto's face when he stated, "But you don't. At least not like that."

"How do you know? And does it matter?"

"I suppose it doesn't. You were always honest with me, Jack."

"And I'm telling you right now that I'll always be there for you."

Ianto lifted his hands to rub his face tiredly. "This time I did everything right," he said. "I didn't lie, didn't deceive, I didn't keep any secrets and still I lost my lover to Torchwood."

"I'm really sorry," Jack said softly. "But like you said, it wasn't your fault. You did everything right. It was him who was all wrong. Trust me, Ianto, it's hurting now but it'll stop. You'll find someone better eventually. Someone new."

Ianto turned his head to look at Jack evenly. "What if I wanted someone old?"

Jack took the time to consider his words carefully. "Then you'll find that if you're sure that's what you want all you have to do is ask," he said eventually.

"What if I'm asking now?"

Jack let out the sigh he had been holding back. "Then I'd ask why you've suddenly changed your mind."

Ianto just shrugged in reply. "I suppose I've come to realize that a painful truth is better than a beautiful lie."

Jack frowned. "Ianto, I just don't want you to sell yourself short."         

"I wouldn't be." Ianto suddenly stepped out of the tub. The water pooled around his feet as he wrapped himself up in a large towel. Then he turned to Jack and said, "Some things are worth it."

With a sigh, Jack stepped close to the other man and squeezed his shoulders through the thick towel. "Let's get you to bed. You'll probably find yourself thinking more clearly in the morning."

"My thoughts are perfectly clear!" Ianto said angrily as he pulled himself free with a jerk and stalked out of the bathroom, leaving Jack to drain the bath. When he was done, he found Ianto standing in the center of the room, wearing gray jersey tracksuit bottoms with the towel still hanging loosely around his shoulders. He looked lost.

"For your information," Ianto said softly, sounding incredibly vulnerable. "I feel like I'm seeing clearly for the first time in months."

"And what is it you're seeing?" Jack asked carefully as he walked towards the other man.

"That I'm fighting a losing battle. I tried to move on when you left, I really did. But in the end I'm back to where we've always been. There is no escaping you, Jack."

A smile crept across Jack's lips. "You make me sound like a biblical plague."

"It certainly seems like it."

"Well, at least with me you don't have to wander forty years in the wilderness. I'm right here and my intentions are entirely secular."

"And what would those be?"

Jack motioned towards the bedroom. "Make you get some rest, for once."

Ianto gave him an impenetrable glance as he trudged past him.

Slowly, Jack followed him into the bedroom and felt a strange pull in his chest when he saw Ianto shrug off the towel in the dim light of the lone reading lamp on the nightstand and stretch out on the bed. It seemed so familiar and yet so unreachable.

"There, I'm lying down," Ianto declared unnecessarily, balancing the heel of one foot on the toes of the other. "So now you can stop harassing me about getting rest. I'm not really tired though…" He trailed off. The previous air of defiance slipped off his face like a mask as his eyes scanned the room as if registering his surroundings for the first time. He looked at Jack with wide and pleading eyes as he said, "I don't want to be alone. Stay with me, please?"

Any noble resolve that Jack might have had left crumbled under the look of quiet despair on the other man's face. "Of course," he said softly and sat down on the bed. To tide over the awkward pause, Jack let his eyes wander around the bedroom.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary here. The room was as calm and somber as Ianto, full of subdued colors with its dark gray wallpaper and black bed sheets. Heavy curtains on the windows kept out the light from the street that filtered through the leaves of a tree.

Apart from the bed, a nightstand, a cabinet and a wardrobe the room was bare, no other decorations lightening up the atmosphere. As a matter of fact, there seemed to be a noticeable lack of pictures as opposed to the last time Jack had been here.

"Where are all your photographs of Lisa?" Jack asked as he looked around the room in search of them.

Ianto's face darkened. "They're gone. J… He made me take them down."

Jack frowned. "Why would he have done such a thing?"

"He said it made him feel uncomfortable to be watched by my exes all the time."

Letting it sink in for a moment, Jack asked, "Did he know she's… she passed away?"

Ianto took a deep breath. "Yes, he did."

"Bastard," Jack swore under his breath, clenching his fist. He got up impulsively and strode across the room. "Where did you put them? I can't believe you'd throw them away."

Ianto gave him a sizing glance. "No, of course not. I put them in the top drawer of the cabinet over there."

Jack pulled open the indicated drawer and rummaged through its content without waiting for permission. "What are you doing?" Ianto protested weakly, but Jack ignored him. Soon his fingers touched the cool surface of a picture frame and he retrieved a whole stack of photos.

The top picture showed Ianto hugging Lisa from behind. They were both dressed casually and Ianto looked so strange, so unfamiliar, and it wasn't just the different clothes. It was the air of careless ease about him, the relaxed smile that made it all so strange.

The other pictures showed Lisa in different situations and Jack could only guess as to why Ianto had chosen to remember these moments forever and frame the pictures. He tensed when he uncovered the last frame which had been lying face down in the stack. It was a picture of himself.

He couldn't recall when it had been taken but judging by the way he was sitting at his desk, looking at a file with a thoughtful frown creasing his brow, Ianto must have taken it without him noticing. There weren't a lot of pictures of him in existence so he could see why Ianto treasured this. He slipped his picture back into the drawer before turning around.

"It's okay. I know you've seen it," Ianto said with a resigned sigh.

"Well, I'm here now," Jack said softly as he put Lisa's photo on top of the cabinet, carefully positioning them. "No need for pictures."

"They don't do you justice anyway," Ianto said, looking up at him.

"You think?" Jack replied teasingly, running his hand through his hair in a mock primping gesture as he sat down on the bed. The mattress dipped when he did so, pushing the other man a little closer to him. When Ianto didn't reply, he asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Good." After a moment's consideration, Ianto added, "A little sore."

Jack frowned. "Still from the Weevil? Looks like the warm bath didn't fix it after all." Then he added with a smile. "Guess that calls for Plan B. Roll over."

Ianto gave him a confused glance but did as he was told. Once he had gotten into a comfortable position on his stomach, he twisted his head to the side to look at Jack expectantly. "What, is it time for the slow fuck now?"

Jack shook his head. "I think just the thing you need is this..." With that he took Ianto's shoulders in a firm grip and started kneading the tense muscles with determined strokes, slowly relieving the tension and working out all the kinks.

Ianto's back tightened for a moment in surprise, but then he let out a comfortable purr as he melted beneath Jack's skillful hands. Soon he was completely relaxed, merely enjoying Jack's touch with closed eyes, so that the shift from massage to caress was barely noticeable at first.

It took Jack a while to realize that he had stopped trying to help the other man relax long ago and had succumbed to the sheer pleasure of feeling the smooth skin move underneath his palms. He couldn't recall a single instance when he had done this before, just taking his time to explore Ianto's body, and now he couldn't explain to himself why he never had.

It was only when he could hardly suppress the impulse to lean in and press a chain of kisses down the other man's spine that Jack forced himself out of his reverie and pulled his hands back reluctantly.

Ianto noticed the change in his behavior and opened his eyes slowly. "Something wrong?" he mumbled sleepily.

Jack hesitated for a second before he said, "No…" He straightened himself up. "Do you think you can sleep now? I'll be right outside in the living room." He got up before temptation got too strong.

Ianto revived instantly, rolling over and turning on his back to face him. "Don't go!" he pleaded, reaching out for Jack.

The hand Ianto had dug into his shirt mesmerized Jack and he stood rooted to the spot for a moment, just savoring the contact. They both seemed suspended in time, just staring at each other in stunned silence.

Jack didn't resist when the tug turned into a pull, inevitably drawing him down towards the other man. Slowly he sank down until their lips touched.

At the contact, Jack's eyes slid shut and he lost himself in the sensation. His heart was beating up to his throat as he returned the kiss with equal passion. He could sense Ianto's need for physical contact. It was evident in the way he clung to him, roaming hands seeking his skin.

Every cell in his body was screaming for him to press Ianto into the mattress and plunder his mouth with a burning kiss, demanding retribution for all the hours spent in frustrated longing. Yet he forced himself and the other man to slow down, turning their kiss into something softer, more fragile.

Finally, when Ianto's lips opened under the gentle brushes of his tongue, Jack could barely contain his excitement. All of a sudden a dozen thoughts were flashing through his mind, all at the same time.

He felt excited, and triumphant, and happy, and also a bit scared. He felt the rush of their first kiss all over again, only this time he had no idea where it would lead them. He felt as if he was at the end of a great race, about to collect his prize, yet he also felt at the very beginning of something new and unknown. He felt alive.

Very gently, Jack leaned forward and joined Ianto on the bed. Framing the other man's face in a gentle gesture mirroring their previous encounters, but with a depth of emotion which had been lacking before, Jack allowed himself to just go with the flow, exploring Ianto casually without rush or intent.

It was only when he felt Ianto's hand press against his shoulder that Jack pulled back. He looked down at the other man, struggling to catch his breath.

"Stay with me tonight." Ianto's husky voice was hardly more than a whisper in the tension-laden room.

Licking his lips, Jack swallowed thickly once before he replied, "I already said I'd be there to keep you company."

"But that's not what I want," Ianto protested heatedly. "I want more than that. Sleep with me."

Excitement flashed through Jack at the sound of this simple request. He fought it down before he replied cautiously, "I'm worried that you don't really know what you want."

Ianto huffed in annoyance, but despite his exasperation, his hands on Jack's shoulders remained gentle. "I just told you what I want."

Jack sighed and relaxed a little, running a casual hand through Ianto's hair as he looked at the man below him. "Ianto… I'll never be a proper boyfriend. You know that. I'm not very thoughtful. I'll say insensitive things in the heat of battle and refuse to apologize for it later. I'll go after anyone who strikes my fancy and I won't feel the need to hide it afterwards, because that's what I do."

He laughed softly. "I'll probably never know the names of your cousins or learn how to pronounce the name of the place where you grew up. I'll never be the type of guy who'll take you out to a fancy restaurant and send you roses after a date."

"Well, that's good then, because I'm not looking for a perfect boyfriend or a romantic date. I don't need insincere promises and a false sense of security. Right now, the thing I need the most is a good, hard fuck."

The sentence hovered between them for a moment like a soap bubble that persistently refused to pop. It took Jack a moment to find his voice again before he said, "The Ianto I know never would have talked like that. Do you really want to let him change you like that?"

A look of desperation appeared on Ianto's face. "Don't you understand, Jack? I can't stand the thought that he's the last person to…" he trailed off. Then a frown of defiance appeared on his face as he said emphatically, "I just can't go to sleep like that."

The silent plea in the other man's eyes almost defeated Jack. He understood how the other man must be feeling, wanting to forget by any means necessary. "God, Ianto…" he murmured, touching his forehead against Ianto's before lifting his head again. "Are you sure you're not just on the rebound?" he asked softly.

Ianto stared at him for a moment. Then a soft laugh rattled through his chest. "Oh Jack," he said when his laughter subsided. "Don't you know you were the one I was rebounding from in the first place? If anything, I'd be bounding back to you." And then he added with a simplicity that hit Jack right to the core, "You've always been the one."

Jack held his breath when Ianto's hand, almost hesitantly, connected with his cheek. The subtle scrape of his beginning stubble as Ianto dragged his fingers across the line of his jaw sent a shiver down his spine. Jack closed his eyes for a moment, savoring the experience. Then he turned his face ever so slightly and pressed his lips into the palm of the other man's hand.

A subtle shiver ran through Ianto's body and the breath hitched in his chest for just a second before he moved his hand to the back of Jack's neck and pulled him down, raising his face for another kiss.

It was gentle and seemingly went on forever. "Your kisses are wonderful," Ianto murmured when their lips finally parted. "I've missed your kisses."

Sighing softly, Jack put his hand on Ianto's hair, rubbing it gently. "A week ago you told me they hurt too much. What's changed now?"

Ianto hesitated for a moment. Then he lifted his face up and said, "I have."

Jack looked down on the other man, searching for answers in his eyes. And then he knew Ianto was telling the truth. They both had changed. They probably shouldn't do this but at the same time he simply couldn't see how this could be wrong.

"All right, you win," Jack finally said. "But if we're going to do this, then only on my terms."

Ianto nodded slowly. "Okay. And what are they?"

"First, I'm going to do all the work."

"But…"

"No discussion. If this is the only way I can make you relax, so be it."

He gave Ianto's chin a little tug. "Which brings me right to my next point: we're not going to decide anything about the future tonight. You're my friend, and if you don't want anything more than that after tonight I'm fine with that. My friendship is yours for as long as you want it."

After Jack gave it a moment to sink in, he added sternly, "I said I'd be there for you, and I meant it. If you start isolating yourself again I have the permission to give you a good spanking." He ignored the smile that tugged at the corners of Ianto's mouth, trying his hardest not to join in. "Are we clear on that?"

"Absolutely, sir."

"Excellent. In that case…" Jack freed himself from Ianto's embrace and got up. Then he shrugged out of the rest of his clothes and joined him again. Ianto opened his mouth to talk, but Jack covered it with his before he had a chance. He held back nothing as he kissed him, running his hands slowly across Ianto's smooth chest.

When Jack pulled back and looked down, Ianto's face was flushed and his lips glistened from his kisses. His mouth stood slightly open and his breath brushed across Jack's chin in rapid huffs. "Still determined?" Jack asked softly as he rubbed a thumb across Ianto's cheekbones. His reply was no more than a faint nod.

Sighing contentedly, Jack moved downwards with his lips, rubbing open-mouthed kisses across the other man's throat where he felt the pulse beat forcefully. Licking and nipping here and there, he took the long way across Ianto's collar bones, past his chin and back to his mouth before claiming it in yet another kiss.

When their lips parted once more, Jack dragged his fingers lazily across Ianto's chest. His hand froze mid-stroke when he once more noticed the small, dark red marks scattered across the other man's light skin. He'd been so careful to avoid giving Ianto's nakedness undue attention earlier that he simply hadn't paid closer attention to them.

Gently, Jack rubbed the tip of one finger across one of the marks. Upon closer inspection , he realized that those weren't bruises Ianto had sustained from his clash with the Weevil or with Jay, but that they were love bites. His fingers flexed over one of them. Naturally, this didn't go unnoticed and Jack felt Ianto tense as soon as he registered his attention.

"He liked doing that," Ianto mumbled tonelessly, his voice barely audible as he had turned his face away from Jack. "Leaving his marks on me… I thought he was being romantic, but I guess he just enjoyed marking his territory." He sighed softly. "Guess those will stay with me for a while."

Jack circled another mark grimly. Then he leaned down and closed his mouth over the patch of skin, sucking at it gently.

Ianto gasped in surprise and arched his back involuntarily, his hand shooting up and digging into Jack's hair. "What are you doing?"

Detaching his lips with a soft popping sound, Jack looked up at Ianto and grinned. "Taking back what's mine."

Ianto's chuckle turned into a low moan when Jack moved on to the next mark, this time placing his lips on his chest, right above his nipple. When he was done, he took a small detour to the perky bud, taking it between his teeth and licking it.

"I don't think I've got a mark there," Ianto whispered.

"Call it a bonus."

For a while, the only sound breaking the silence in the darkened bedroom were the sounds of wet kisses being spread across Ianto's body, interspersed with gentle moans. Jack was in no hurry and moved across the smooth skin at a casual pace, canceling out each and every one of Jay's marks, until he felt the impatient tug of Ianto's hands in his hair.

"Oh, please, Jack," the other man said breathlessly. "I can't stand this anymore." And then he added, his voice no more than a husky purr. "Fuck me now."

The sound of that shot straight into Jack's nether regions and he lost no time climbing back up and kissing Ianto passionately, pressing their bodies together tightly. He could feel the full extent of Ianto's arousal press against his own through the thin cloth of his trousers as they kissed.

"How do you want me?" he asked, his smile ghosting across Ianto's ear once the kiss ended. Instead of an answer, Ianto scooted away from Jack a bit and rolled onto his stomach. With a grin on his face, Jack dove for the other man's back and ran his tongue up his spine, causing a shiver to travel up where he licked.

"Hmmm, this is going to be fun," Jack purred, rocking his body against Ianto's backside. "But you're still wearing too many clothes." With that, he moved downwards, hooked his thumbs into the waistband of Ianto's trousers and pulled them down with one vigorous tug. He cast them aside carelessly, secretly appreciating that this time he didn't have to deal with Ianto's frantic clothes folding in the middle of sex.

Directing his attention to Ianto's behind, he put both hands on the firm buttocks and kneaded them gently. "I assume you've still got the lube in the top drawer," Jack murmured as he leaned over. The drawer was stuck a bit at first, so he had to pull harder. When it finally slid open, it revealed a half-empty tube of lube and a good dozen condoms.

Jack couldn't help but feel his gut clench at the thought of why they were there. "I guess I should use one of those," he said with a sigh as he pulled one out along with the tube. He was about to tear open the tinfoil with his teeth when he felt Ianto's uncharacteristically timid touch on his arm.

"No, don't…"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "But I thought…"

"He always used condoms." Ianto paused, then added bitterly, "When he fucked me, that is. His main concern obviously wasn't my well-being. In a way I didn't mind because…" He left the rest of the sentence unfinished. "Anyway, I want to feel you all the way. I want you inside of me, all of you."

When Jack didn't reply right away, he added impatiently, "Come on, we've never used condoms, have we? There's nothing you can catch from me or vice versa, so what's the problem?"

After a moment's hesitation, Jack dropped the condom carelessly and leaned in to press a kiss on Ianto's shoulder. "No problem," he said and flicked the tube open with his thumb. He chuckled at the little jerk of surprise when the dollop of lube hit the crack of Ianto's rear.

"You don't need to prepare me that carefully," Ianto whispered, his face half buried in the pillow.

"Hm, but that's half the fun," Jack murmured, rubbing his finger around the entrance before slowly sliding the tip inside, eliciting a soft moan from the other man. He hesitated when a thought struck him. "Are you trying to tell me that he didn't take the time to prepare you?" The thought actually angered Jack.

When Ianto didn't reply right away, Jack slid up his body, the finger still in place, and looked him straight in the eyes, waiting until Ianto met his stare reluctantly. "I certainly hope that's not it, or else I have even more reason to regret that I didn't get to snap his neck."

"Don't talk about him," Ianto choked, turning his head away and clenching his fist in the blanket beneath him. "I don't want to think about him. Not now."

For Ianto's sake, Jack willed his annoyance with Jay to go away. Laughing softly, he nipped at Ianto's ear once. "Oh, but isn't that what we're doing here tonight? I thought we were driving him out of you." With that, he thrust his finger in all the way, drawing another gasp from the other man's lips. "But don't worry," Jack whispered into his ear as he withdrew slowly. "You don't have to avoid thinking about him to forget him. I will make you forget him." He pulled back just far enough to be able to reach his cock with his hand, still slick with lube. Then he aligned himself with Ianto's entrance and slid inside.

Beneath him, Ianto gave a moan of surprise that quickly melted into one of pleasure as he arched his back, pressing himself even more tightly against Jack's groin.

"Easy, easy…" Jack purred, pressing a soothing hand against Ianto's shoulder. "I'm the one who's doing all the work, remember?"

"Then do it!" Ianto ground out, clawing at the pillow.

"I will, but at my own pace." Not letting Ianto's angry bucking faze him, Jack gently kissed the nape of the other man's neck and shoulders. When he was placing a string of kisses along the jutting shoulder blade, Ianto finally relaxed with a sigh of resignation.

"Hmm, that feels nice…" he murmured softly.

"As it should," Jack replied, putting one hand on Ianto's chin, gently turning his face towards him for a kiss. As it continued, he let his hand travel downwards, taking a hold of Ianto's hip. He met no resistance when he withdrew slowly, just to slide back in with one fluid motion.

"Oh yes," Ianto moaned into Jack's mouth and turned his face back towards the pillow.

Grinning, Jack repeated the motion, and again and again, enjoying the enthusiastic albeit muffled response he received from Ianto in return. Slowly, he ran one hand down Ianto's spine. The skin was already moist from the perspiration building there. He learned down and licked at it, tasting the hint of saltiness.

Ianto responded with another stifled moan and bucked his hips upwards.

"Hey, quit trying to change the pace," Jack said with a shaky laugh as he put his hands firmly against Ianto's hips. "I told you I'm the one in charge."

Ianto groaned. "Can't you pick it up then?"

In response, Jack pulled out ever so slowly before sliding in again smoothly, repeating the motion at a maddening pace several times, drawing strangled moans from the other man's lips each time. "Oh, I can, but I don't think I will."

"But I want it harder," Ianto complained breathlessly, bucking once more defiantly.

"Well, you can't always get what you want." Jack knew what Ianto was trying to do. He knew what it felt like, wanting to punish yourself for your own deficiencies, finding solace in hard, unrestrained sex. There was no way he was going to let him do that.

Jack leaned forward to graze his teeth across the soft skin of Ianto's neck. As he did that, he let his hands travel up the other man's sides, along his outstretched arms until he could take a hold of his hands, entangling their fingers.

"Relax. Let yourself go," he murmured softly, dragging Ianto's hands towards his chest and crossing them over it as he wrapped his arms around him.

"I can't!" Ianto sobbed, pressing his face into the mattress.

"Why not?" Jack whispered with his mouth against the nape of Ianto's neck as he continued to stroke in and out gently. "It's easy… just trust in me and go with the flow." When he finally felt Ianto relax underneath him, Jack used the chance to let his hands and lips roam freely across the other man's back. Every now and then, he leaned down to nip at Ianto's ear, lick his neck or give Ianto's shoulder a playful bite, eliciting a surprised gasp from the other man.

After a while, he pushed his hands underneath Ianto's body and grabbed his shoulders, finding a snug fit against the smooth arc of his back. "This is why I love this position," Jack purred as he rubbed his hand across Ianto's chest. "So much skin to caress and no lips to distract me."

Ianto laughed softly in reply, the vibration traveling up Jack's body who closed his eyes in appreciation.

"Oh God, Ianto…" he moaned, threatening to lose his control for a brief second. He dropped his head, putting his forehead against Ianto's shoulder as he ground himself deeply into the body below him. When the fog of lust cleared a bit, he said hoarsely, "You're using dirty tricks." Ianto chuckled again and Jack nearly lost it once more.

Groaning deeply in his chest, Jack withdrew, letting his aching cock rest outside of Ianto's heated body for a moment. "Are you getting enough friction from the mattress?" he whispered in Ianto's ear, rubbing himself against the firm butt cheeks. Unable to resist the temptation much longer, he sheathed himself again, sighing in relief as he did so. "I don't think I can hold on much longer."

"I'm good," Ianto replied without hesitation.

"Maybe you should get on your knees so I can rub you," Jack suggested through gritted teeth, thrusting into Ianto's waiting body in short strokes. He licked away the beads of perspiration that had formed on his upper lip.

"No, I'm fine like this," Ianto declined.

"I'm going to come…" Jack gasped, almost apologetically.

"Then do it."

Before Jack had a chance to make a conscious decision, he felt Ianto's muscle tighten around his cock, holding it in a twitching grip, and he was lost. He roared as the waves of pleasure crashed through him and he managed to bury himself deeply inside of the other man before he spilled himself in one mind-numbing, earth-shattering orgasm.

After that, he collapsed onto Ianto's back, limp and lifeless, unable to hold himself up any longer. It took him several moments of labored breathing before he finally managed to lift his head enough to say shakily, "I don't think I've had this little control over my climax since I hit puberty some 160 years ago." He rolled off Ianto and flopped on his back, barely finding enough energy to lift his hand to rub across the elegant line of Ianto's hip as he turned towards him with a smile.

"Don't worry, your age isn't showing," Ianto said teasingly, putting his hand over Jack's which had come to rest on his stomach.

Jack grinned. "That's good to hear." He leaned over to kiss Ianto gently. "But you didn't come," he remarked, casting a glance at Ianto's half-hard cock.

"I know… it's no big deal, really." Ianto squeezed his hand. "Guess the day is finally getting to me. I'm sorry…"

"There's no need," Jack interrupted him. "Besides, we're not done yet. After all, there's nothing more relaxing than a nice, long orgasm." He reached out for Ianto's cock and started stroking it gently.

Ianto moaned softly. "You don't have to, Jack, really. I know you're tired and I'm fine…"

"Hush." Jack silenced the other man with a resolute kiss. Then he slowly deepened it as he let his hand slide up and down Ianto's cock. Ianto lifted his hand with a sigh and for a moment Jack thought he was going to push him away, but then he put it against Jack's neck and pulled him deeper into the kiss.

Jack enjoyed the opportunity to just kiss Ianto, exploring his mouth gently. He curled his arm on the pillow, right above Ianto's head, cradling it in the crook of his arm as he kissed him, while he let his other hand slide up and down the other man's length casually.

When their lips separated, he looked down at the other man's face, picking up the pace of his strokes. He wanted to give Ianto the release he still owed him. However, even though he felt Ianto's cock hard and heavy in his hand, Jack could sense that the other man wasn't really that into it. There was something about his moans and sighs that seemed absent and mechanical.

"What's wrong?"

Ianto hesitated just a moment too long. "Nothing."

Jack gave the other man a stern look. "Never thought you were such a poor liar." He ran his other hand gently across Ianto's cheek. "Come on, you can tell me. Am I not doing it right? Just tell me what you like."

"No… that's not it." Ianto sighed softly. "I guess… it just reminds me too much of Jay."

The comment made Jack cringe internally but he didn't show it. His hand halted. "What does?"

Ianto made a vague motion. "This… everything. He'd always beat me off furiously when we were having sex to make sure I'd get off. And when I didn't he'd stroke me to completion afterwards. I guess that way he made sure I was always content and didn't notice that he was plotting to take over Torchwood."

The familiar feeling of not-jealousy balled up in his stomach again. "Right, I remember that," he said before he realized it. For a moment, Jack felt like kicking himself. The silence stretched on for a second as the sentence hovered between them.

"It's okay. I know that you were watching Jay and me on the CCTV."

Jack winced inwardly. Of course he knew, but that still didn't make it one of his favorite subjects to discuss. "Do you mind?" He noticed that he was still stroking Ianto and stopped reluctantly, realizing that this probably wasn't the appropriate backdrop for such a conversation.

Ianto seemed to consider his question for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders. "No, I don't…" he mumbled, running his fingers through Jack's matted hair. "I suppose it would have been rather naïve of me to assume that sex in the office would go unnoticed. And I know you were worried about me."

"So you're not mad?" Jack asked, kissing Ianto's fingers as they moved downwards.

"No, but for future reference, I expect you to respect my privacy and at least ask my permission when you want to watch me having sex next time."

"Hey, it's not like I was watching for voyeuristic purposes. I just wanted to look out for you."

"Did you get hard?"

Jack's cheeks flushed. "Er, well…" he stammered.

Ianto rose one eyebrow. "If it turned you on it's for voyeuristic purposes."

With a groan, Jack threw back his head and said, "Of course it did. But it wasn't like he said it was. You're beautiful." He cupped Ianto's blushing face and kissed him deeply.

"Now, about what you said earlier," he said in an effort to change the subject. "I assume you meant that me stroking you to get you off reminded you too much of Jay." He ran his fingers across Ianto's ribcage, brushing a perky nipple during one of his rounds. "What about this?"

"This is fine," Ianto whispered, watching Jack's hand drawing patterns on his skin.

"So, playing with your soft skin after sex is a Jay-free activity."

Ianto chuckled softly. "Yes, it is."

"Hmmm…" Jack leaned in and nuzzled Ianto's throat, running his tongue over the spot where the other man's pulse was thudding. "And how's this?"

"Fine, too…"

Jack took the soft skin between his lips and suckled on it, then moved over to the earlobe and nibbled at it. "Tell me something he's never done to you," he pleaded as he continued to run his hands across the smooth chest. "Tell me," he repeated when Ianto didn't reply right away.

"He… uh…" Ianto's tongue shot out to moisten his dry lips and it was too tempting for Jack to not go for it.

"Hmm?" Jack encouraged him as he rubbed his mouth across Ianto's lips.

"He never sucked me off."

Jack froze, dumbstruck for a second. "He never what?" Seeing that Ianto seemed a little uncomfortable with the subject, Jack forced himself out of his stunned surprise and said, "Well, then he's even more of an idiot then I already thought he was."

The intended lightness of the comment was lost on Ianto when he turned his head away. "Or maybe I was the idiot."

Jack put a firm hand under Ianto's chin and turned his face towards him. "Hey. No more self-punishment for tonight, okay?" With that, he slid down the other man's body and settled between his legs.

"Jack, this really isn't necessary…" Ianto protested weakly, the flush of his cheeks and the increasing plumpness of the cock in Jack's hand nullifying the validity of his protest.

"Oh yes, believe me, it is…" Jack murmured, taking a firmer hold of the hardening flesh and rubbing it. "I prefer to leave an impression with my lovers that will set me apart from their previous experiences. And what better way is there than doing something he's never done to you?" He leaned down and slowly ran his tongue down the length of Ianto's cock.

"That is… irrefutable logic indeed," Ianto gasped, arching into Jack's touch.

"Thought you'd see it the same way I do," Jack mumbled as he nibbled the skin of Ianto's ball sacs. By now, the cock in his hand was fully erect and twitching in anticipation. He licked his way up again before closing his lips over the glistening head, sucking on it once.

The salty droplet of pre-come that appeared as soon as he did so told Jack that Ianto wouldn't last long, so he took him in his mouth all the way and sucked down as far as he could manage. Ianto cried out in response and reached for something above his head as he bucked his hips involuntarily.

Gently but insistently, Jack pressed his hands on Ianto's hips and held him in place while he started bobbing his head down the length of Ianto's arousal, looking for the perfect rhythm. He soon found it.

Not long after Jack had started working Ianto's cock in earnest, he felt the hardness expand in his mouth even further and he knew that Ianto was ready. He slid the cock all the way into his mouth and took a slow, even breath as he felt it heavily against his tongue. Then he let out a deep, contented purr.

Ianto threw back his head and gasped, his entire body stiffening up as he came.

Jack pulled back slightly and caught all of Ianto's release, swallowing it greedily. He moved up to suck out the last bit of Ianto's offering, realizing just how much he'd missed doing this. As he let the softening cock slide from his lips, he heard Ianto softly echoing his thoughts.

"God, I've missed this so much."

Hearing Ianto state such a simple truth so plainly opened up something inside of Jack. He pulled the other man up, gathering him into an embrace. Not surprisingly, Ianto returned it with almost desperate intensity and they sank back on the mattress, limbs entwined and chests pressed together until it was impossible to tell one heartbeat apart from the other.

Jack felt like his hands were all over the place, but no matter where they lay they were touching something soft and wonderful. He felt silly and maudlin, thinking these things, but for this one night he wanted to allow himself this luxury.

Eventually, Ianto's body slackened as he drifted off to sleep and Jack reached for the blanket to cover them both with it. When he moved to reach for the light on the nightstand, Ianto's hand groped for him.

"Stay…" he mumbled sleepily.

"I'm not going anywhere," Jack whispered as he switched off the light. "Sleep."

Jack wasn't sure how long he'd been lying there, just letting his mind drift and listening to Ianto's even breathing, when the sound of his mobile in the other room cut through the silence. Cursing under his breath, Jack slipped out of Ianto's embrace and felt around in the darkness to find the door. The lights in the living room were still on, so Jack had no trouble finding his coat.

"What is it?" he barked into the phone, sounding pissier than he intended.

"Right," Owen said on the other line, unfazed by his harsh tone. "Listen, Jack, there's something that you need to see."

Casting a quick glance at the bedroom door, Jack said, "Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"I don't think it can. We've run some tests on Varot's stuff."

Jack sighed. "Fine, I'll be there as soon as I can." He snapped the phone shut and let it rest against his chin thoughtfully for a moment. Then he returned to the bedroom quietly.

As he was searching for his clothes in the dim light, Ianto stirred on the bed. "Where are you going?" he asked softly, his voice heavy with sleep.

Just wearing his trousers, Jack sat down on the mattress and put a hand on Ianto's shoulder to squeeze it gently. "I have to go in. Some things need my attention." He leaned in and breathed a kiss on Ianto's forehead. "You sleep and I'll check in on you in the morning, okay?"

"Kay…" Ianto mumbled, already drifting off again.

 

*******************************

 

Back at the Hub, Jack was only a little surprised to find everyone sitting at their workstations.

"I sent you all home. Why are you still here?" he asked as he stopped at Owen's desk.

Owen looked up from his screen, a ball point pen stuck casually between his lips and his feet resting on the desk. "I was already out the door when I figured I could throw on the mass-spec and have it analyze the substance in your bourbon before turning in. Then I waited around a bit to make sure it's working right, then the first results came in…" He shrugged. "I've had worse, pulling double and triple shifts at the hospital. Nothing a quick nap on the couch can't fix."

"What about Tosh?" Jack nodded in her direction.

Another shrug. "Just like you, Tosh practically lives here."

"Okay, and what about you, Gwen?"

"I just couldn't sleep after everything that's happened," Gwen said as she appeared next to Jack. The shadows under her eyes gave proof of her exhaustion, but Jack could hardly blame her for being unable to find rest.

Yet he said, "Well, it's good to know that I've got a team to fall back on that's well and rested should I need them."

"Obviously you didn't have any difficulties getting any rest," Owen said, eyeing Jack curiously.

Looking down at himself, Jack realized that he had buttoned his shirt up wrong.

Gwen followed his look and her eyes widened. "Jack! Don't tell me you…" She cast a quick glance at Owen who was following their conversation with obvious glee, then she lowered her voice unnecessarily and hissed, "You know Ianto's in an emotionally fragile state right now!"

"I know and everything's fine, Gwen," he brushed her off curtly. To the other man, he said, "So, let's hear it, Owen. What did you find?"

Obviously disappointed with the conversation having ended so abruptly, Owen took a moment to react. "Right," he said, pulling his feet off the desk along with a stack of papers. Ignoring them, he leaned over to the printer, reaching for the print-out hanging from the tray. "Here you go." He thrust it into Jack's hand.

Jack looked down at the endless rows of numbers and felt his patience wane rapidly. "Okay, what am I supposed to be looking at?"

Owen tapped a column on the print-out with his ball point pen. "This. Apparently, the stuff Varot spiked your drink with was some kind of anticoagulant."

Jack frowned. "Why would he want to prevent my blood from clotting?"

Owen spun around on his chair to face him and shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe he wanted to reduce your risk of heart attacks and strokes?"

"Somehow I doubt that. He didn't seem like a philanthropist to me." Jack tossed the paper back on the desk. "Is that all you got?"

"Jack, when have I ever summoned you over utterly trifle matters?"

Jack crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Last Thursday."

"Okay, but apart from that."

"This time he hasn't," Tosh interrupted them. She got up from her desk, holding something in her hand. "I've taken a closer look at Jay's personal effects. Well, at least the belongings we found on his body. Most of them conceal something else. Like, as we've already found out the hard way, his lighter contains a technology similar to Jack's wristband, allowing him to operate locks and switches nearby."

She lifted the object in her hand. "This is his mobile. Or rather, it looks like one, but once I had taken a closer look I soon realized that you won't be making any calls with this one." The phone snapped open and she pressed a series of buttons. Then the keypad parted and slid to the side, revealing a shiny disk underneath.

Curiously, Jack drew nearer to take a closer look. "Interesting. What is this, a handheld particle analyzer?"

Tosh seemed a little taken aback that Jack had recognized her big find, but she caught herself quickly. "Yes, it is. It can analyze anything, breaking apart the particles to a degree our technology is incapable of as of yet."

"Yes, I know. It's standard equipment…" Jack left the sentence unfinished. "Well, I've seen similar before." He glanced over to Tosh's desk. "I should probably take a look at everything we've found on him. Maybe I can figure out more."

Jack was about to ask if that was all when he noticed Tosh still hovering about. "Anything else?"

"Yes, there is. I took a sample from the scanner panel earlier to see what the last thing he ran through it was. I didn't really think I'd get any useful results from it, but it turns out I have."

"Yes?"

"It was your blood."

"My blood," Jack repeated as if hoping it would make more sense a second time around. "Why would he analyze my blood?"

"Well," Owen cut in before Tosh could answer. "At least it explains the anticoagulant. Clearly, he wanted to make sure there'd be fresh blood for him to harvest. It would also explain why he did his best to provoke you into throwing punches. What better way is there to make someone bleed without attracting attention?"

"And why couldn't you have mentioned that earlier?" Jack asked distractedly, rubbing his chin slowly.

Owen shrugged. "I didn't want to ruin the dramatic build-up of my startling revelations."

It all made sense, Jack had to admit. It explained why lately he'd been having troubles with annoying little gashes that persistently refused to close. It explained why Varot had appeared so pleased after Jack had hit him. It all made sense, except for the reason for all of this. The extent of planning involved baffled him.

"But why would he bother with all this," Jack said more to himself than anyone else. His thoughts returned to the list of specialties he'd read in Varot's file. Didn't one of them list genetic engineering? "He's a geneticist, isn't he…" he mumbled, still deeply in thought.

"How do you figure that?" Gwen interrupted him curiously.

For a moment, Jack considered how much information he should share with his team. He still felt greatly protective about his past, but he realized that eventually he'd need to be open with them. But for now, he decided, it wasn't necessary with Varot dead and out of the way. So he said, "Classified information."

Gwen nodded, accepting his answer. "So, if he's a geneticist, do you think this could have been the reason why he was interested in your blood?" She thought about it for a moment. "That's it! We've all seen him move, right? Jay, I mean, Varot. On the CCTV. What if he found a way to genetically enhance himself? I don't know, give himself faster reflexes."

Jack let it sink in for a moment. "Could that be possible, Owen? Tosh?"

Owen scrunched up his face as he considered an answer. After a while he said, "Well, research is making tremendous leaps right now as it is and the thing that's keeping us the most from making real progress is bureaucracy and red tape. So, assuming he had access to alien and/or future technology and tossing in a bit of blatant disregard for ethics, I think it's possible."

"With your blood he could have tried to grow some kind of genetic anomaly from it and inject it back into you later," Tosh suggested, "that way perhaps corrupting your DNA and weakening you." When everyone gave her odd looks she pressed her lips together defensively. "I'm just bouncing ideas! If you can enhance your own DNA in a positive way you might as well deteriorate someone else's to harm them."

"That's a good point." Jack turned to Owen who was just starting up some computer game again. He cleared his throat pointedly, causing Owen to quickly minimize the game, only to reveal an internet page showing lots of bare skin.

"We really need better filters at work," Jack said with a sigh. "Ideally something that'll only let through gay porn from now on. I think the large majority of the team will appreciate that. The frown on Owen's face was enough reason for Jack's mirth, but the slightly embarrassed flush on Tosh's face made him break out into full laughter.

Forcing himself to recall his initial question, he tapped Owen's shoulder to get his attention. "Have you performed an autopsy yet?"

"Er, no, I haven't. I figured that could wait until…"

"Well, normally it could but under the given circumstances it would be a good idea to take a couple of samples from the body and run them through the mass-spec. Hell, we could even use the particle analyzer for best results. Grabbing the samples shouldn't take terribly long and then you could turn in for the night. Get some rest."

"You're the boss," Owen said with a servile sigh as he got up and slunk off towards the morgue.

"In the meantime…" Jack had already gone into full taskforce mode and was ready to give out orders to his team, but he forced himself to turn it down a notch, reminding himself of the fact that they all were tired and shouldn't even be here.

There was a lot of information they still could try to find out about Varot, databases to check, secret records to hack into. But Jack had the feeling that he already had the best source of intelligence on Varot in his possession.

Tosh and Gwen were still looking at him expectantly, so he said, "Why don't you two try to relax for a bit? I need to check something in my office. I don't want to find you toppled over on your keyboards when I get back, okay?"

With that, he turned on his heels and disappeared through his office door. An incoming fax distracted him briefly before he headed for his desk to retrieve the Time Agency database. He frowned when he couldn't see it right away. Had he put it back into the safe? He pushed a stack of paper aside.

A frown appeared on his face when that didn't reveal the database either. He checked the time code at the safe, confirming that he'd been the last one to open it earlier. He returned to the desk, now searching for the database in earnest. Folder by folder he picked up everything that was cluttering up his desk, dropping it carelessly on the floor.

Finally he was staring at an empty desktop and had to admit that the database wasn't anywhere. He crossed the room to yank open the door and nearly collided with Owen.

"Jack! You've got to see this," the other man said, a hounded expression on his face.

"I'm actually kinda busy," Jack replied testily, trying to walk past the doctor, but he was held back by a hand on his arm.

"No, really." Owen's voice was stern and completely devoid of his usual insouciance.

Jack stopped and looked at him.

"Varot's body. It's gone."

"What do you mean, gone?" Jack repeated, hoping he'd misheard.

Owen made a helpless gesture. "Just gone. Disappeared. I went to the morgue to take the samples and only found an empty autopsy table.

Jack didn't waste another second. He pushed past the other man and raced towards the morgue. There he found the autopsy table empty, the piece of cloth, still stained with Varot's blood, lying on the ground.

"Security's been breached," he said grimly as he looked at the scene in front of him. He turned around to look at his team who had followed him when they had seen him move. A thousand thoughts were racing through his head.

"Okay, I want every nanosecond of CCTV footage of every angle of the Hub pulled up right now. I want reports on when each lock was operated in the past twelve hours. Either we've got the dead walking the Hub or…" The thought washed over Jack like a cold breeze. "Or Varot was working with an accomplice."

Worry for Ianto took a dominant position in his mind and he could hardly manage to focus on what Tosh said. "Just do it!" he interrupted her technical rambling impatiently. He rushed back upstairs. "Keep me posted if you find anything," he yelled over his shoulder.

"Where are you going?" Gwen asked as she followed him through the sliding doors, sounding breathless.

Jack turned to look at her while he waited for the elevator to take him to the garage. "I'm going to get Ianto. Either possible scenario we have means he isn't safe. If Varot had an accomplice that person might be going after Ianto for whatever reason. Here at the Hub we can at least ensure his safety."

Gwen nodded, concern showing on her face. The elevator arrived.

"Get your guns out and be very alert. Until we know what happened we have to assume the intruders are still inside the Hub. You have my permission to shoot on sight," he said as he stepped into the cabin. They exchanged another glance before the doors closed on him.

 

*******************************

 

On the way back to Ianto's place, Jack broke all speed limits and made it to the apartment complex in record time. He secretly congratulated himself for his foresight in slipping Ianto's spare key into his pocket on his way out in a bout of overconfidence.

Drawing his gun, he unlocked the door quietly and pushed it open. He cast a look inside and found nothing out of the ordinary. Cautiously he slipped inside, checking every room thoroughly before allowing himself to relax at least a bit. Then he went straight for the bedroom.

Everything was exactly as he'd left it. Ianto was sleeping curled up on his side, one hand selfishly stretched out on what would have been Jack's side if he'd still been in bed with him. Feeling relieved, Jack holstered his gun again and walked over to the sleeping man.

"Ianto," he said softly, gently touching the other man's shoulder.

"Hmm…" He stirred for a moment but then lay still again.

Jack tried once more, this time with more insistence, "Ianto, wake up."

Ianto's eyes shot open. "What?" Registering Jack's tension, he sat up right away. "What is it, Jack?"

For a short moment, Jack debated what to tell the other man, but then he decided that the best approach was to not worry him too much for the time being. "I need you to come back to the Hub with me," he said softly, rubbing Ianto's shoulder.

"Now? I've barely slept," Ianto said. He stated it more like a fact than a complaint.

Jack felt guilty anyhow. "I know, but it's necessary. There's a situation that requires everyone's presence at the Hub."

"I see." Ianto nodded and pulled back the blanket. Jack silently thanked Torchwood for constantly creating situations like this which was why his request hadn't raised any suspicion in the other man. He took a step back to give Ianto room to get up. When he did so he swayed for a moment, unsteady on his feet.

"Whoa, easy," Jack exclaimed as he grabbed Ianto by the hips, stabilizing him. "We don't want you to fall and knock your head."

"No… of course not," Ianto said faintly, apparently still struck by the dizzy spell because he held onto Jack's wrists for support.

"You all right?" Jack watched the other man closely.

"Yes… I guess I just got up too fast." Ianto shook his head a couple of times. "Okay, I'm better now." He turned towards his closet, but Jack was faster and grabbed the pair of tracksuit bottoms off the floor.

"Here, wear these. We can't afford to waste anymore time with you getting dressed."

"I can hardly go to work dressed like this!" Ianto replied, sounding clearly outraged.

"You look great. They'll do just fine." Jack yanked open the closet and grabbed the first t-shirt he found. "Here, and now let's go." He hardly waited for Ianto to finish dressing as he ushered him out of the apartment.

"God, Jack, it can't be that time-critical that I can't even put on a bloody coat," Ianto complained as he grabbed a sweater and his coat from the wardrobe in the hall while he was being dragged outside.

"I'm not going to take the risk finding that out." Jack threw another searching glance down the darkened corridor before shutting the door and locking it. Then he took Ianto by the arm and led him out of the apartment building.

He didn't feel like talking, but he knew that Ianto was waiting for answers. Jack refused to provide any as he drove back to the Hub in stern silence.He did He knew it was bothering Ianto, but he felt too confused himself to be able to have a difficult conversation while driving.

"I'm going to get changed in my office," Ianto said coolly once Jack had pulled up the SUV in the garage. Jack seized him by the wrist before he had a chance to move away.

"No. You're going to the Hub with me. The tourist office isn't safe enough either."

Ianto looked at him with a mixture of anger and insecurity. "You're being ridiculous, Jack," he said accusingly, but he stopped pulling against Jack's grasp. "You know, it'd be so much easier to understand if you just told me what was going on."

"In the Hub," Jack said curtly and pulled Ianto towards the elevator. As they rode down to the sub-level, Jack practiced in his head what he'd say to Ianto once he was safely locked away in the Hub. All his plans went to hell when he saw Tosh charging towards them as soon as the door of the elevator slid open.

"We went through all the footage. There are magnetic fluctuations on the tape every time something interesting happens in the room. It looks like they were using a jammer to sabotage the CCTV. I'm working on cleaning the footage up but it's not looking so good. We still have no idea what happened to Jay."

Jack cringed inwardly when he saw Ianto's head whip around.

"What is she talking about, Jack?" he asked, his voice stern with accusation.

"I'd better get back to my computer," Tosh said quickly and disappeared.

"Listen, Ianto…" Jack turned to the other man. "We don't really know what happened yet. I went back to the Hub earlier because Owen said he had some information for me. When I told him to run some tests on Varot's body it turned out it had disappeared."

Ianto looked at him steadily for a long time while Jack fretted about his reaction. But he was surprised when Ianto said calmly, "And it never occurred to you to mention this earlier?"

Jack blinked in confusion. "Er, well yes, it did, but I didn't want to upset you." He felt like hiding from Ianto's angry stare.

"Upset me! The man who tried to kill me not even twenty-four hours ago might still be on the loose and you're worried about upsetting me?"

"That's not…" Jack hesitated. "Wait, why would you say that? Varot is cold and dead. I made damn sure he was."

The angry expression slipped off Ianto's face. "Well, what other explanation could there be?"

"I was thinking along the lines of an accomplice."

Ianto looked doubtful. "How would that be possible? Nobody can get into the Hub unless the bio scans accept their signature. Anything else would set off a huge alarm. Remember when we had to add the delivery boy to the database just so that Owen could get his pizza when I wasn't at the desk?"

Suddenly Jack felt really foolish. He hadn't considered any of that. "But Varot is dead. I don't see dead people getting up and walking away from the morgue regularly."

"You don't seem to have that problem," Ianto said challengingly.

The mere notion offended Jack and he said testily, "But I'm different."

"That you certainly are." Ianto turned and walked away.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go grab my extra gun and this time I'm going to make damn sure it stays in my hand the entire time."

Jack set out to go after Ianto, but Tosh's voice held him back. "Jack, could you come over for a second?" He hesitated for a moment, torn between wanting to follow Ianto and wanting to shed light on this mystery. When Tosh called a second time, Jack cursed under his breath and walked towards the workstation.

"Go with Ianto," he told Gwen curtly as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. Gwen didn't question him but did as she was told. "Okay, what's up?"

"I've reviewed the footage between Varot's death and the disappearance of the body. It was very difficult to find anything useful, so I tried to focus on this."

She clicked around on her desktop a couple of times. Then she brought up a video. "See, this is the CCTV footage of the morgue. I fast-forwarded it to the point of the interference. That was two hours and seventeen minutes ago." She started the video.

The morgue appeared on the monitor. On the center slab, a body was covered with a blood-stained cloth. With only the stand-by light on, the picture was grainy and difficult to make out.

Suddenly the image flickered and horizontal lines flashed though the picture, jumbling it. That lasted for about one minute before the picture stabilized again. Now the sheet lay crumpled on the ground and the autopsy table was empty.

"Okay," Jack said, frowning at the screen. "So whatever happened, it can't have taken longer than about one minute."

"Yes. The interference gives us a useful marker, too. It creates a unique electromagnetic signature on the recording which was easy enough to track down with a bit of search routine adjustment. That way, I managed to track their movements."

With another click of her finger, a series of movie files popped up. "The interference runs through every single camera towards the main Hub, one by one," she explained. "It lingers a bit longer around this area. They probably waited until Gwen, Owen and I weren't around to slip through."

Jack nodded, lips pressed together at the thought of the potential danger his team had been in. "Did they move straight for the exit? How did they get in?"

"I don't know. I couldn't find anything on the CCTV to support the theory of intruders and the interference begins at the morgue. And no, they didn't head straight for the exit. They took a detour to your office."

"My office," Jack repeated blankly, recalling the missing database at once. "Can you show me that footage?" He watched the recording that Tosh brought up, his eyes fixed on the white box on his desk. After the flicker went through the picture, it was gone. "Son of a bitch," he cursed under his breath.

Ignoring Tosh's confused look, he said, "Okay, so what happened then? Where did they go to? Did they leave? Are they still in the Hub?"

Tosh pointed at another window. It showed Jack and Gwen in front of the elevator not even an hour ago. The picture got scrambled shortly after they both had left the area. "They must have slipped out through the staircases and then left through the garage when you drove off."

The more he thought about this, the angrier Jack got. "We need to find out who did this. Can you somehow make the images clearer?"

Tosh shook her head. "No. There's no way of recovering what was lost with the image disturbance. It just wasn't recorded right. But I've run a couple of filters over the scene to give it a better picture quality. It should be done by now." Tosh typed in a couple of commands. The scene in the morgue rewound to shortly before the interference, then replayed.

This time, everything was much brighter and crisper. "Did you see that?" Tosh gasped.

Jack squinted and moved closer to the screen. "What am I supposed to be looking out for?"

"Let me rewind it again. Look there." She indicated a spot on the screen.

The scene replayed and this time Jack saw something. It was very subtle and you could think it was just a fluctuation in the recording, but it was there. "Replay it again, this time in slow-motion," Jack ordered. After watching the scene yet another time he was certain. "His hand moved under the sheet."

The realization wrapped around him like a cold blanket. Had they overlooked something? How could this have happened? What had happened in the first place? Jack's mind was racing. He almost missed his cell phone persistently ringing in his pocket.

When it wouldn't stop, he snatched it out of his pocket and flicked it open. "What?" he barked into the phone.

"I hope I'm not calling at a bad time."

Jack didn’t blink at the sardonic drawl which issued from the phone. Hardly anything surprised him anymore. "Varot," he said. Tosh spun around in her chair and looked at him in shock, Owen stopped working on his computer and started following the conversation curiously.

Jack gave Tosh a vague motion with his hand. She recovered from her stunned surprise in seconds and turned back to her computer to start the tracing program. While he watched her do that he considered his approach.

His gut reaction was to hurl insults at the other man, but he realized that it was crucial to keep Varot's attention long enough for Tosh to be able to complete the trace. So instead he said in a seemingly light-hearted tone, "A bit late for a social call, don't you think?"

Varot laughed softly. "Yeah, I know. Took me a while before I managed to steal a phone."

"So I guess there's no need to claim that I meant to call but lost your number."

"I think we can put all the lies and insincerities behind us."

Jack threw a glance at Tosh's screen and saw that the trace was still in progress. He switched the phone to the other ear and said, "Yes, let's not let fake identities, attempted murder, intrusion and theft put a damper on our relationship."

"What a Hallmark moment," Varot drawled. "Have you ever considered getting into the greeting cards business?"

"I don't know. I might!" Jack lowered his voice, leaving a steely edge to it as he said, "How do you like this line then: Sorry I missed killing you last time. I'm going to take special care to correct that mistake."

"Charming," Varot replied dryly. "I think that might look stylish in silver print on royal blue."

Another quick glance told him that the trace still wasn't finished. "I'm serious, Varot. I'm going to find you and then none of your little tricks will help you."

Jack could hear a fake yawn on the other end. "See, now you're being repetitive. That's a bit dull."

"Some things are worth repeating." Tosh made a motion towards Jack, signaling him to drag the conversation out just a bit longer. "So, how did you do it? You obviously modified yourself in order to survive a bullet wound. What did you do? A back-up heart? Accelerated regeneration?"

"Let's not take the mystery out of it."

Jack felt a mounting frustration with engaging in such insubstantial banter with the other man. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, "Why am I even talking to you when you won't provide me with the answers I want?" When he was greeted with silence on the other end, Jack worried for a moment that he might have gone too far and driven Varot away before the trace could be completed. But then he heard Varot's voice break the silence.

"If you ask the right questions I might," he said challengingly.

Jack dwelt on the subject for a moment, then he asked, "What were you planning to do with me?"

The reply came swift. "With you? Nothing."

"But you took my blood," Jack said accusingly.

"I'm a geneticist. A person's DNA tells me everything I need to know about them."

The comment made Jack unreasonably angry. He felt like defending himself, that there was more to him than just his DNA, things he'd never know or even fathom, but he realized that words like these would be lost on Varot. Someone who'd gone to such great lengths to carry out his plans didn't care for such details. So instead he said, "All of this hassle to steal a bloody file?"

Breathlessly, he waited for the other man's reply. Varot let him hang on for a while before he finally answered. "Ah, I see, we've moved past the point of vague insinuations."

Right then, Tosh gave Jack a thumbs up signal, indicating that the trace had been completed. Jack glanced at the monitor and saw that the other man's position wasn't all that far away from the Hub. He felt his pulse exhilarate and his mind went into overdrive, considering the best approach.

He was just about to speak when he saw Ianto and Gwen return. Predictably, Ianto had changed into a suit. He probably kept a secret stash somewhere. It annoyed Jack that Ianto had so clearly ignored his orders to stay down in the Hub.

Only when Varot spoke again did Jack realize that he'd completely ignored him. "I assume the trace has finally completed," he was saying indifferently. "Perhaps we should take this conversation somewhere cozier then. Don't take too long."

"Don't worry, Varot. I won't." Jack closed the phone just as Ianto stopped in front of him.

"Varot? Was that Jay you were just talking to?" Ianto asked, a shocked expression on his face.

"Yes," Jack replied calmly.

All sorts of emotions flickered across Ianto's face. Then an expression of hurt settled on his features. It gave Jack a painful tug in his chest. "Why didn't you call me right away?"

Refusing to feel guilty over this, Jack said, "You weren't the one he was calling and I had to make sure he'd stay on the phone long enough for Tosh to trace him."

Hurt was replaced by disbelief. "But he's my boyfriend!"

"Was," Jack corrected him, suddenly feeling angry at Ianto's misnomer. "And he was never your boyfriend. He was a liar and a fraud."

Ianto pressed his lips together stubbornly. "If Jay wants something from you I have a right to know what it is!" he insisted.

"Right now, the only right you have is to stay where you are and stop putting yourself in danger!" Jack made a swooping gesture towards Ianto. "I thought I'd told you quite clearly that the tourism-center wasn't safe. Yet you went ahead and changed your clothes anyhow! That doesn't look to me like you're capable of making sensible decisions at the moment."

When he turned around in order to walk to his office, leaving Ianto behind in a grandiose gesture, he was held back quite unspectacularly by a hand on his sleeve. "Where are you going now?"

Just for a brief second, Jack debated lying to Ianto. "I'm going to meet Varot."

Of course, Ianto pushed himself in front of him, his chin raised defiantly as he returned his angry glare. "I want to come along."

"No! You will stay here and that's my final word on the subject!" Jack put a hand on Ianto's shoulder to push him aside but the vulnerability in the other man's eyes made the intended rough gesture almost turn into a caress.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" Ianto said softly. Only the burning intensity of his stare made it clear that he still wasn't willing to back down.

Your friend, Jack wanted to say. Your lover, someone who's worried sick about you. Instead, he said, "I'm still your boss!"

The moment was broken. Ianto's eyes turned to ice as he pushed Jack's hand off his shoulder. "You can have my resignation on your desk right now if that's the problem."

Feeling the curious eyes of his team burning into his back, Jack let out a growl of frustration. He grabbed Ianto by the wrist and dragged him into his office. He didn't have time for all this, but he wasn't about to discuss this in front of Owen and the others, and he most certainly wasn't going to lose Ianto over it.

He pulled the other man behind him into the room and kicked the door shut with his heel. When he came to a halt, he swung Ianto right in front of him. Maybe it had been the fast motion or the sudden stop, but for a moment Ianto looked terribly ill. All color had drained from his face and he clung to Jack's arm, most likely against his will, to keep himself on his feet.

"See? You cant even stand!" Jack exclaimed, more fiercely than he had intended. When Ianto didn't reply, he grabbed him by the wrists once more and led him, a lot more gently this time, to the chair and let him fall into it.

Jack turned to the low cabinet where a carafe with fresh water was standing on a tray. He filled a glass and handed it to Ianto who immediately put it to his lips and drank. He still looked miserable and Jack couldn't help but feel pity.

Slowly, he kneeled down in front of Ianto and put his hands on the other man's thighs in a reassuring gesture. "Ianto, listen to me," he said softly once Ianto had put the glass down, rubbing his hands slowly up and down his thighs.

"This is important. This is far more dangerous than just a Weevil that needs to be hunted down. I have no idea what to expect and I can't do it if I have to worry about you all the time." He gave Ianto's thighs a gentle squeeze. "I need to know that you're safe."

Uncertainty softened Ianto's rebellious frown and Jack took that as a good sign. "There's a lot more at stake, too." He hesitated for a moment, wondering briefly if he should share this with Ianto. He hadn't talked about this to anyone before. "He planned this all along. All to get to something I had."

Jack took a deep breath. "He stole a database from my time in the Time Agency. It contains records of all agents, active and dormant, at the time I was working for them. It's important and confidential information, of future events no less, that no man should have. Especially not him."

Ianto's eyes widened when he realized the scope of this revelation.

"I'm not doing this to shut you out, Ianto. I know this affects you just as much as it affects me, probably more. But I need you to stay here, safe and sound." He give Ianto a lopsided grin. "What would I do without you guarding my back?" He could tell that Ianto was still struggling with accepting Jack's decision so he tried one more thing to make it easier for the other man.

"Look, as a token of my trust I'm going to open the intercom channel as soon as I'm there. That way you can listen in on the conversation through your earpiece. That's the maximum involvement I can provide you with without having you actually be there. How does that sound?"

Ianto's frown deepened once more as he struggled to come to a decision. Then the frown was replaced by the resigned and dutiful expression that Jack knew so well. "All right," Ianto said softly.

Jack couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "Thank you," he said honestly as he got up. Ianto followed him and he was still clearly shaky on his feet. Jack put his steadying hands on the other man's shoulders. "Get some rest, take it easy. I'll be back as soon as I can and hopefully this whole ordeal will be behind us."

"Be careful," Ianto said seriously.

Jack couldn't help but laugh in reply. "I'll be fine. After all, how can you stop a man who can't die?" He leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to Ianto's forehead. "I'll be back soon." With that he let go of the other man and left the office.

Flinging his coat over his shoulders as he walked towards the elevator, he called out, "Nobody leaves this place until you hear from me otherwise. Is that clear?"

Gwen caught up with him. "Shouldn't I be going with you, Jack?"

He shook his head. "No, I need you to protect the others in case something goes wrong. We're still not entirely sure about the nature of the security breach and whether or not Varot had any accomplices. So pay extra attention to anything unusual, okay? And…" He quickly glanced at the main Hub where Ianto had appeared, walking carefully as if he was in pain. "Keep an extra eye out for Ianto, okay?"

Gwen nodded curtly. "Are you sure? I really think you could use some extra support…"

Jack stopped, an ironic smile playing on his lips. "Not you too, Gwen. I told this to Ianto and I'm going to tell you the same thing. I'll feel a lot more comfortable knowing all of you are here safe. I'm not going to trust Varot further than I can spit, believe me."

He put his hand against Gwen's chin and pinched it playfully to make the worried expression go away. "Chin up, PC Cooper. I need you down here to take care of everything. Don't let Owen do anything stupid like order Chinese or start a LAN-party, or something. And force Ianto to get some rest."

She rewarded him with a small smile. "All right, Jack. You can count on me."

"I knew I could!" Jack exclaimed as he walked towards the elevator. With a final glance at his team, the doors closed and he wondered to himself if all the confidence he'd shown right now hadn't just been one big act. The years of being a con man must have rubbed off on him. He laughed humorlessly to himself. At least he was sure of one thing: he wouldn't get killed tonight. That was a start.

 

*******************************

 

A gush of cold wind hit Jack as soon as he'd pushed open the heavy metal door to the roof. He'd parked the SUV near the bayside and walked the short distance towards the abandoned car park, ten stories of raw concrete waiting to be torn down to make room for new buildings, to avoid alerting Varot to his presence.

When he stepped out onto the dark roof though, he soon realized he could have saved himself the trouble. He found Varot standing in the center, hands buried in the pocket of his short brown coat and looking at him expectantly.

"I should have known you'd be fashionably late," he said in that sardonic drawl that Jack was beginning to hate without removing his hands from his pockets.

"I didn't realize we were having a date," Jack replied as he reached up to brush away a strand of hair from his face that the humid night air had matted against his forehead. He used the gesture as a cover-up to adjust the earpiece which he had set to transmission just before he had exited the staircase.

Varot shrugged. "I could be trite and call it a date with destiny, but let's just say I'm an impatient man."

"So, how should we do it?" Jack asked as he walked a couple of steps towards the other man while still keeping his distance. "Draw our guns right away or would you prefer to chat a little bit first?"

Varot's teeth gleamed in the dim light of a nearby streetlight. "Let's talk. I do enjoy a good foreplay."

Raising an eyebrow, Jack replied, "Somehow I think your ex-lovers would tend to disagree."

A soft laugh. "I see you've wasted no time reassuming your position in Ianto's bed."

Not falling for this obvious attempt to rile him up, Jack forced every emotion out of his voice as he said, "You may enjoy gossiping about your lovers, but I don't. So if this is all you're going to talk about I think this is going to be a very brief chat."

"Fine, what would you like to talk about instead then?"

"First things first. How did you manage to slip out undetected. What did you do to scramble the CCTV?"

Varot's sharp laugh made Jack grit his teeth. "Seriously, Harkness. All this 'living in the 20th century' bullshit has made you so useless. Otherwise you'd remember that a micro transmission jammer is standard equipment for all Time Agents. Such as this one!"

He lifted his hand out of his pocket and Jack's own shot towards his gun. But then he saw that Varot wasn't holding anything. He merely flicked his thumb towards his ring finger. At the same time, Jack's earpiece crackled and a moment later, incredibly loud white noise hissed through it, forcing him to remove it with a yelp.

"There, that's much better, don't you think?" Varot said smugly. "I'd rather keep this private." He linked his fingers in front of his body. "Now we can talk. Ask anything you like. I'm pretty sure this will be your last opportunity to do so."

Suddenly, Jack's mind was blank. All the questions he'd been mulling over vanished. He tried hard to come up with something. "Why?"

"Why what?"

Jack made a vague motion with his hand. "Why all this? Why the hassle to get close to Ianto, gain access to Torchwood, fake your death…"

Varot smiled. "Yes, you're right. Why all that hassle for one bloody file? But do you really want to cut to the chase like this? Are you the kind of man who turns to the last page of the book?"

Jack clenched his fists in annoyance. "Actually, I am. Provided I get the time to read at all. Usually I prefer to just read the Cliffs Notes version. Saves so much time."

"Well, in this case you'll have to indulge me. I've planned this so carefully, at least allow me the triumph of explaining it all to you." Varot shrugged apologetically. "Trite, I know, but I'm still growing into the role of the villain."

"Then talk," Jack ground out impatiently. When the other man stayed silent, he added, "Why Ianto?"

This time, Varot's shrug was marked by indifference. "He was an easy target. His heartbreak was evident which made him vulnerable. His profile showed a certain penchant for being gullible so it was easy to get close to him."

Varot started moving, casually walking along the edge of the roof as he talked. "Unfortunately he was very careful, so I practically never got to go inside the Hub. I had to actively sabotage Cooper's heel to make her trip in order to set foot in that damn place."

"And that's when you planted the anticoagulant in my office."

Varot flashed Jack a quizzical smile. "Wow, you've really been paying attention! Indeed, that's when I did that. I had to make sure I got a sample of your blood somehow." He laughed softly. "Of course, had I anticipated that you'd be at my throat so easily I could have saved myself the hassle, but the ingestion of the drug made your blood easier to analyze, so at least the effort wasn't wasted."

Jack frowned. "Just what is it with your obsession with my blood?"

"I told you. I had to confirm a few things about you first before proceeding with my plan."

"Which was to steal the database."

"Exactly. It was one of the two things I wanted from you."

"What was the other thing?"

Varot hesitated. Then he said, "The means to use it."

"I don't understand."

A soft smile played around Varot's lips. "Give it some time and you will."

It seemed as if Varot was slowly warming himself up to reveal his grand scheme and Jack was not about to stop him. So he contented himself with this answer and continued merely giving Varot the right cues. "So you wanted the database. Obviously you knew it wouldn't be that easy," he said.

"Yes. I had no idea where you kept it and I knew I'd never get the chance to search your office properly with the way things were going. Turns out that even Ianto, who seems to be the one with the best clearance and access to most parts of Torchwood, can't get into your private stash. You really do have trust issues, don't you?"

"Apparently for good reason," Jack murmured grimly.

"Yes, well… that's why I had to create a situation which would force you to bring out the database. What could have been easier than baiting you with the Time Agency?" Varot's laugh was downright vicious and it made Jack's hairs stand on end. "You're so damn predictable. You followed every step of my plan exactly as I had anticipated."

Not taking the bait, Jack continued grilling him. "So what's so special about my file? Want to catch up with some old friends, make a couple of social calls?"

Varot looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before answering. "Yes, you could say that…" He trailed off and for a moment Jack thought Varot was finished. But then the other man suddenly laughed sharply. "You really don't remember, do you? I have to admit, it took me a while to accept that. I thought it was just a ploy to throw me off, but now I'm pretty sure you really have no clue."

The frown reappeared on Jack's face. "What are you talking about?"

Another moment of silence followed during which Varot just looked at him with his penetrative stare. "You see…" he finally said, drawling every word. "When you were looking me up, you missed all the interesting bits. If you had dug a little deeper you would have found this."

Jack tensed when Varot reached into the pocket of his coat and produced the small white box that he'd been looking for so desperately earlier. "Here, let me read it out to you," Varot said after making sure he had Jack's attention. "'Code 490, subject went rogue. See report 135-5366-B - illegal genetic modification of undesirables…'"

Varot looked up with a skewed smile. "Oh my, that sounds so convoluted. What can I say? I found that it paid much better to provide certain services to certain people. But let's skip all that bureaucratic drivel…" He looked back at the file. "Ah, here. 'Elimination ordered. Agent dispatched…' Now what do you know? Looks like your registration number right there."

Trying hard not to show his surprise, Jack forced himself to appear completely calm. Of course it wasn't impossible that he could have been ordered to do something like this during his time in the Time Agency. He had carried out quite a few orders he wasn't proud of. But why did this sound so utterly unfamiliar? He needed more information.

So he said, "What, all this because I was ordered to kill you? No harm done as obviously I didn't succeed, did I? You really need to learn to let go, Varot."

Suddenly, the condescending smile was wiped from Varot's face and it was replaced with livid anger. "You don't know anything, Harkness!" he shouted.

Taken aback by the sudden emotional outburst, Jack didn't know what to say for a moment. But Varot didn't seem to expect an answer from him anyway.

"There are things this precious database doesn't tell you about. Things that haven't been stored here!" Varot waved the database at Jack. "Things the Time Agency would have liked to erase from their own history." He stopped and took a deep breath as if forcing himself to calm down.

Then he thrust the database back into his pocket and said with a carefully measured voice, "Her name was Liana."

"I remember her…" Jack said, more to himself.

Varot's head jerked in his direction. "You do?"

"She was mentioned in the database entry as a dependent." When Varot's expression darkened, Jack knew he'd said the wrong thing.

"Of course she was. That's the only mentioning of her that the agency allowed to remain. What it doesn't say is how beautiful she was. Her hair was the color of nightshade, rich and purple. She liked tying it back with a hair band so it wouldn't fall into her eyes. She was gentle and kind and she cared more about other people than she should have."

He spoke softly and for once his voice was completely devoid of any kind of mockery or sarcasm. "She loved her job, being a doctor, caring for people. Her specialty was chronic diseases. She said she found it fulfilling to help people deal with something not even science could change. She'd often tease me about it, that I could change a person's blood type, but not their predisposition for heart disease."

The pain in Varot's voice made it hard for Jack not to feel sympathy for him. Yet he felt himself growing increasingly impatient having to listen to his walk down memory lane. "That's all very touching, but what do I have to do with this?"

Varot cast him a cold glance. "Everything, considering you're the one who killed her."

Jack froze, momentarily shocked. His first impulse was to furiously reject the mere notion, but then he realized that he couldn't really. There were so many things he could have done and had no idea about.

"I see you're desperately trying to remember. But of course the Time Agency would make sure that nothing, not even her murderer's memory would remain," Varot said with so much rancor that it made Jack tense defensively.

"Let me fill in the blanks," Varot continued. "Apparently you thought it'd be poetic justice if you managed to kill me with one of my own creations. So you procured a sample of my famous hemoglobin binder from the Archives. Clever plan, as it kills fast and stealthily. You suffocate from the inside when your blood cells stop transporting oxygen to your brain. I'm flattered you'd chose such a pain-free method for me." Despite his words, Varot's eyes were full of hatred.

"You put the hemoglobin binder on a letter addressed to me. In your defense, clearly you're not all that sloppy. You actually placed the micro injection disk under the seal for confidential communication. Ingenious, of course. After all, who would open a letter addressed to someone else?" Varot's voice grew louder as he hurled the spiteful words at Jack. "And even though, the confidential seals can be set up with a genetic lock so that only the intended recipient can open them. Of course that feature is optional, unfortunately. You just didn't bother to set it up because it would have required getting my genetic code from the main database and you were  too lazy to do it!"

Varot took a moment to calm himself. Then he continued. "So the letter arrived and Liana, always worried about my well being, figured it would be less of an interruption to my work if she just read it out to me quickly." He stopped and closed his eyes, a painful expression whisking across his face, softening his features. "But as soon as I heard the words I knew this would be the last I'd hear her speak."

He laughed without humor. "So fucking cynical… Why bother sending people that coded standard message when you might just as well write 'You have been deemed dispensable and so now you will die. Goodbye!' There's nothing you can do." Varot lifted his head and stared at Jack, their eyes battling for dominance for a moment.

When Jack refused to look away, Varot went on, fixing his eyes on him. "I rushed to her but she had already started breaking down, her eyes wide and fearful, her breath merely a ghost against my chin." He stopped, drawing a shuddering breath. "There was nothing I could do, I invented the damn thing and it kills fast and efficiently. All I could do was hold her and listen to her draw her last breath…"

He shook his head slowly. "What do you say to the love of your life when you know it's the last time? Now I can think of a million things I should have said, but then…" Finally, Varot looked away.

To Jack it felt like listening to some story exchanged over a beer at a pub. He found it hard to really relate it to himself. For all he knew, Varot could be making this up. Yet he couldn't help but feel a twinge of compassion for the other man. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

Varot's head snapped up. "It's a little late to be asking for forgiveness now, isn't it, Harkness."

"I'm not asking for forgiveness. I'm just sorry." A little bit more gently, Jack added, "No one should have to watch a loved one die. It's cruel."

An angry glint flashed in Varot's eyes.  "What makes you think I want your sympathy? All I want from you is for you to suffer the same way I did. You and everyone else from the Time Agency."

A strange sense of premonition tugged at the corner of Jack's mind. "So this is why you needed the database," he stated.

"All of the people who wronged me, all those I need to take revenge on… well, let's just say one lifetime wouldn't be enough." Varot twisted his lips into a cruel smile. "Thanks to you, I'll be able to succeed. Doubly so."

Realization hit Jack like a blow in the face. "You didn't fake your own death, did you," he said. "You died and came back. That's what you needed my blood for!"

Varot smiled as if they were talking about the weather. "Yeah… If I had known that dying hurts so much I probably would have tried a different approach. How on earth do you stand that on a regular basis, Harkness?"

"You don't know what you've done!" Jack ground out. "Being immortal may be fun for the first couple of centuries but eventually you'll be wishing for death."

Varot gave him a cold smile. "That's okay. I've lost the person I wanted to grow old with. I've got no intention of doing that now. But I see your point. How inconvenient that must be, watching your lovers grow old and fade away while you stay the same. In a way you could say I'll be doing you a favor."

A sense of dread settled upon Jack. "Ianto wasn't all that random a choice after all, was he?"

"Well, I suppose you could say I've failed to mention one more selection criterion that made Ianto the perfect target."

"And what would that be?"

"The fact that you love him."

Varot said it simply and yet it hit Jack straight in the pit of his stomach. "What makes you think that?" he snapped.

Varot's laugh was loud and harrowing. "Oh please, it's quite obvious when you think about it. He was the first person that sprang to your mind." He looked at Jack full of glee, like a child about to unwrap his presents. "Either way, should I be wrong I suppose you're lucky and you won't be as affected watching him die."

He tilted his head. "You see, I'm no fool. I knew there were many opportunities for my plans to be foiled. Any step along the way I could have failed. So I made sure I had a back-up plan. Ianto was my fall back."

Unable to stand the pressure much longer, Jack hissed, "What did you do to him?"

"I'm not much for spoiling a good mystery. If you want to know, I suggest you hurry and find that out." Varot walked backwards slowly. "Poor sod. I always had a feeling that breaking up with me would kill him."

Jack stepped in front of the metal door firmly, blocking off the exit. "I'm not letting you go until you've told me exactly what you've done!"

"Oh, I'm afraid you'll have to." Varot made a swift motion and a second later he had a gun in his hand.

Jack didn't even have a chance to reach for his own when a shot cracked through the night and pain exploded in his right shoulder. He groaned and fell backwards against the door, clutching the bleeding wound. He made a motion towards his gun, but the pain was too strong. The rapid blood loss was already starting to make him dizzy. Varot must have hit an artery.

When Jack looked up, his gaze hazy, he saw Varot standing at the edge of the building, the gun lax in his hand. Jack's senses were fading fast. "This is goodbye, I suppose," Varot said blankly, looking at Jack slowly bleeding to death. Then he flung himself backwards, over the edge of the roof, plunging into the night.

 

*******************************

 

When Jack woke up with a wheezing groan, he found himself lying in a puddle of his own blood, making his shirt stick uncomfortably to his back. He felt sore and still a bit weak but otherwise fine. It was always the same.

It took him a moment to sort through his thoughts, but then he snapped back to reality with sudden harshness. When he jumped back on his feet he swayed for a second before he managed to stabilize himself. Then he looked around.

The roof was empty. Jack walked towards the edge where he'd last seen Varot and glanced down, but it was impossible to make out anything in the darkness. He cursed under his breath and searched in his pocket for his earpiece. He found it and reinserted it.

"Jack?" he heard Tosh's agitated voice as soon as he went online.

"I'm right here, Tosh," he replied.

"Where the hell have you been? You've been incommunicado for almost an hour."

Jack cursed colorfully. He'd hoped he hadn't been out that long. "Had a minor run-in with Varot. Hack into the CCTV and see if you can find out anything about Varot's whereabouts. He jumped off the roof about forty-five minutes ago. I have a feeling I won't be finding his smashed remains down there, so I want to know where he went to."

To his great relief, Tosh didn't second-guess his orders or ask any questions. He really wasn't in the mood for answering any of them. He just wanted to get back as fast as possible. "Where's Ianto?" he asked almost reluctantly as he ran down the stairs.

"What?" Tosh said, sounding absent-minded while she was typing away on her keyboard. "I don't know. I think Gwen made him lie down on the couch. Why?"

Every minute counted. "Tell Owen to bring Ianto to the examination room and run a thorough check on him. Full body and bio scan, physical, the works. This is really important. I'll be there as fast as I can."

Tosh stopped typing. "Is everything all right, Jack?"

He hesitated. "I don't know yet," he answered truthfully before he cut the connection.

True to his prediction, there was no sign of Varot anywhere. Jack didn't waste a lot of time looking for traces he knew he wouldn't find, so he made it straight back to the Hub.

Owen was waiting for him as soon as he walked inside. "What the fuck is this all about, Harkness?" he said as he joined him. "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to make Ianto do something he doesn't want to?"

Despite his worry, Jack had to grin. "Actually, yeah, I do." But then he sobered instantly when he asked, "Have you found anything yet?"

Owen shook his head. "No, still scanning." He was visibly annoyed with the situation. "You know, it really would help if you told me what I'm looking for instead of sending me on some wild goose chase."

Jack knew the other man was right. He sighed as he stopped in front of the examination room. Leaning in, he said in a soft voice so that only the doctor would be able to hear him, "When I was talking to Varot on the roof, he made it sound as if he had done something to Ianto that would kill him."

The annoyance was wiped off Owen's face and was replaced with pure professionalism. He opened his mouth to talk, but Jack was faster.

"Before you ask, no, he wasn't too specific about it, otherwise I would have mentioned it." Jack felt helpless and frustrated, realizing how little he really had to offer to assist with the diagnosis. "This is what I know of him," he continued. "He's a geneticist from the future, highly skilled in his field, vengeful and full of rage. He's probably working with technology we haven't even begun to imagine yet and he wants to cause as much pain as possible."

Owen grimaced. "That doesn't exactly make it easier."

"No, but this is where we'll have to start." He pushed the door open to the examination room.

He found Ianto sitting on the examination table, in pretty much the same way he'd done less than two days ago after the Weevil attack. Only this time he looked particularly irritated and unwilling, wired up and connected to machines with several leads sticking out of his opened shirt, one sleeve rolled up and a cuff wrapped around his arm. A thermometer stuck out between his lips. Next to him a machine was bleeping furiously.

As soon as Ianto spotted him, he spat out the thermometer and said, "Jack! Could you please tell Owen to leave me the hell alone?" Then he took in Jack's bloody appearance and gasped, "Oh God, what happened to you?"

"Never mind me," Jack brushed off his concern. "Nothing a bit of dry-cleaning won't fix. I'm more concerned with your well-being right now."

Ianto frowned resentfully. "What's going on? You switched off the intercom," he added grumpily.

Jack sighed. "He jammed the signal. I was hoping that was clear." He briefly debated how much to tell Ianto and decided to stick to his promise. "I'm going to give you the full story in a moment. Just let Owen complete the tests and I'll explain it all to you, okay?"

For a moment, Ianto looked like he was going to put up a fight again, but then he nodded reluctantly. With a much suffering sigh, Owen reattached all the leads that Ianto had pulled off during his bout of defiance, then left them alone.

Jack pulled up a chair and sat down next to Ianto. Then he summarized everything Varot had told him, leaving out nothing. All the while, he was watching Ianto's face closely, trying to read anything in the other man's reaction.

"Is it true?" Ianto asked after a moment of silence. "What he accuses you of?"

"I really don't know."

"Is it possible?"

"Yes," Jack admitted without hesitation. "I did a lot of things I'm not proud of. But that was a long time ago."

"You're a different man now." There was no question in this. Ianto had stated it with such confidence that it made Jack's chest feel tight for a second. "You're not like Varot," he continued. "You'd never hurt someone on purpose like this."

For a moment, Jack couldn't speak. He just nodded. "There's more," he finally said. "He said he'd done something to you. He might have been bluffing, but I'm not going to take the chance."

Ianto looked at him, confused. "Done something? Like what?"

"I don't know. Anything." Impulsively, Jack grabbed Ianto's hand and squeezed it. "Think hard, Ianto. The last time you two were together, when it was clear that his cover had been blown, did he do anything to you? Anything out of the ordinary? A prick? A scratch? Offered you something to eat or drink?"

Ianto shook his head, not looking any wiser. "No… I don't know! There was no time, really. I haven't eaten anything in a day or so. Not counting the slice of pizza I had earlier from the fridge. You took me away before you arrested Jay and the next time I was alone with him was in the cell when…" He stopped, rubbing his neck absent-mindedly.

Jack could tell how much the idea was distressing the other man and he felt sorry for having to put him through this. He shot a quick glance at the monitor and saw that Ianto's heart rate had increased when he had begun going through the past days' events.

Remembering Owen's words from last night, he rubbed Ianto's hand gently, "It's okay. No need to stress yourself out over it. We'll just look into everything, okay?" Following another impulse, he lifted Ianto's hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to it. He noticed the perplexed look it earned him, but he didn't care.

As if on cue, the door of the examination room opened and Owen stomped inside. "Enough chit chatting," he said gruffly as he grabbed the results slip from the analyzer. A frown deepened on his brow as he continued reading.

"Is everything okay?" Jack asked, worried by the expression on the doctor's face.

Not answering, Owen moved over to the other monitor and pressed a couple of buttons on them, waiting for the results. He hummed and crossed the room to rummage around in a drawer. When he turned back to them, he held a lancet and a thin glass tube in his hands.

"Allow me," he murmured, snatching Ianto's hand out of Jack's.

"Ow!" Ianto complained when Owen pricked his finger with the needle and drew a tiny amount of blood with the glass tube.

Jack watched with increasing concern as Owen spread the drop of blood on a slide and stuck it into yet another machine for analyzing. He looked at the slip and compared it to the other one, still frowning.

"Okay, what is it?" Jack asked impatiently.

"I don't like this one bit," Owen said. "His creatinine and urea levels are through the roof."

"And what does that mean?"

Owen looked at Jack seriously. "It means his kidneys are shutting down."

Jack cast Ianto a quick glance. "Okay. That's not good. So what do we do? How do we fix it?"

Owen shot him a look of pure irritation. "This isn't some cheap medical drama on primetime television, Jack. We can't just 'fix' it. First, we need to know what caused this and shut it off before it boxes the kidneys. And the liver, too, most likely. And that'd be really bad. You can't live without a liver. Thus the name. Well, not really, but it makes for a good point."

Jack fought down the knot that balled up in his stomach. "What could be the cause then?"

"Oh Lord, where do I start?" Owen stretched out one finger as if to count off the options. "It could be anything, starting with toxins, paradox reactions to medications, infections or sepsis, injury, preexisting conditions… a whole load of possible diseases that love affecting the kidney first."

"Uhm, hello? I'm sitting right here," Ianto cut in, but he was promptly ignored when Owen continued, "We really need something tangible to start with."

"What do you suggest?" Jack asked.

"I suggest we take Ianto to a hospital right now. If we take some of the workload off the kidneys we might be able to prevent complete loss of function or at least delay it enough for us to find the cause. Down here at the Hub we simply do not have the capacity to deal with this kind of intensive care."

"But I'm fine! I don't need intensive care!" Ianto protested heatedly.

Owen looked at him with raised eyebrows. "You're saying that now, but that can change rapidly." He sighed and stepped next to the other man. "Ianto, listen to me. I'm not just saying this to yank your chain. This could get bad. Really bad."

Somehow the sudden change in Owen's demeanor was worse than dealing with his usual gruffness. It increased the level of terror Jack was already experiencing.

"What you're looking at," Owen continued, "is intense, excruciating pain. If your organs are indeed failing, you won't be able to urinate anymore and it will hurt. You'll get cramps, piercing, jabbing pain in your sides, respiratory distress. You'll probably start vomiting, you'll be drowsy, anxious and irritable. Your abdomen will swell and you'll start bleeding from just about any opening of your body."

Ianto's eyes widened as he listened to the doctor speak.

"When that happens, you really want a medical team right there. Especially when your lips are starting to turn blue."

"What happens then?" Ianto asked, licking his lips involuntarily.

Owen shrugged. "Then you're becoming hypoxic, meaning the oxygen saturation of your blood is insufficient and you can start thinking about how long you can manage to go without air. Not sure if we can get you to the hospital fast enough then. Not even if Jack's driving."

Jack got up and put his hands on the other man's shoulders. "Please, Ianto," he pleaded softly. "Let me take you to a hospital. Worst case you'll spend the night there and get to make fun of me for the rest of the week."

Ianto looked at him quietly for a moment. Then he said with a forced smile, "Wow… you're actually trying to convince me instead of simply ordering me around. That doesn't bode well." Then he sighed softly. "Fine, I'll go." Very sternly, he added, "Go, being the operative word here. Don't you dare get out a stretcher!"

 

*******************************

 

"I still think this is ridiculous," Ianto grumbled while Owen drew another blood sample from the CVC-line in his neck. He looked forlorn in the oversized bed, wearing a badly fitted hospital gown, but the frown on his face was still defiant.

At the hospital, they had quickly managed to set Ianto up with a room where he'd receive proper care. Jack had barged into the reception in his usual manner, convincing the staff of the necessity of providing him and his team with all the required equipment without asking too many questions.

So far, Jack had managed to scare off any member of the medical team that had dared to interrupt them. Only one doctor had proven to be particularly persistent. The knock on the door prompted an exasperated eye roll from Owen. "Here it goes again," he muttered as he injected the blood into test tubes.

A woman in her mid-thirties with dark, wavy hair entered the room. Her clothes labeled her as a doctor of this hospital and the expression on her face showed her clear dislike for the other physician. "Dr. Harper," she said, completely ignoring Jack's presence. "How much longer do you think you can hijack one of my ICUs like this?"

Owen didn't look at her, just rose his eyebrows mockingly. "As long as it'll take, Dr. Bennell."

The female doctor pressed her lips together angrily. "I've made some calls," she said, giving Jack a cool look. "You really do seem to have the authorization to just breeze in like this, but as the Chief Consultant I demand to know what kind of medical emergency we're dealing with here. The well-being of my staff and the other patients could be at risk."

"As soon as we know anything of that sort, I'll be sure to let you know," Owen said, irritation apparent in his voice. He carefully placed the test tube into a tray. Then he turned towards her. "But if you want to reduce the risk for your staff you could make sure to minimize contact with the patient and stay bloody well outside!"

Dr. Bennell huffed indignantly. "Well, I hope you as good a doctor as you bloody think you are as you seem to think can deal with everything on your own. Good luck, Dr. Harper." With that, she left the hospital room.

"Was that a good idea?" Jack asked, concern shadowing his expression. "Maybe she could have helped…"

"I don't need her help," Owen cut him short. "Unless she has a degree in xenobiology, which I doubt somehow." Then he continued busying himself with the samples.

Jack frowned. He'd seen the other man deal with medical emergencies before, but so far he'd never seen him work quite as doggedly, biting the head off everyone who dared to interrupt him. He could only guess that treating a member of his team had gotten to him. Jack could relate.

He pulled up a stool and sat down next to Ianto. Without thinking twice, he grabbed the other man's hand and entwined their fingers together. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm lying in a hospital bed, I'm not wearing any underwear and Owen keeps stabbing me with needles. How should I feel?"

Jack grinned. "Okay, I officially withdraw the question." He rubbed his thumb lightly across the back of Ianto's hand.

"Okay, I've drawn a couple of blood samples now," Owen said, stepping up to the bed. "I'm going to take those back to the Hub in a moment and run the usual tests on them. You know, standard poisons, alien toxins, parasites, diseases… the works." He was completely oblivious to the way Ianto's face darkened while he spoke.

He reached for his clipboard. "Crea and urea still on the rise, decreased renal function, insufficient blood saturation… It's affecting just about every organ I can think of." He sighed and looked at Ianto. "You couldn't have just gotten lead poisoning, could you?"

"I'll try harder next time," Ianto replied testily.

Owen ignored the barb and turned to yank his jacket off a chair. Then he grabbed the cool box containing the samples and said, "Off to the Hub now. Don't let those quacks here draw any more blood, okay? Until we know what it is we can't have any of your blood going through their labs." The door closed behind the doctor.

"Who's going to feed Myfanwy?" Ianto asked out of the blue.

Jack frowned. "That'd being taken care of."

"Are you going to feed her? She knows you better than the others, even though you've been gone for a while."

"I can do that."

Ianto seemed relieved. "Good. Don't give her too much red meat. It doesn't agree with her digestion too well and then it's quite a mess to clean. White meat is better. She likes fish best."

"I'll remember that," Jack replied softly. He felt slightly uncomfortable with the subject.

"And remember the Archives are organized by category, not by date like Owen keeps insisting it should be. When you need a specific file, go to the subject catalogue which is sorted by initial. It can also be sorted by location, alien race and date. And you should enter keywords accordingly when introducing new files to the database. It's not so difficult. Basic archiving rules."

Jack's thumb froze mid-caress, the sense of foreboding becoming stronger. "You sound like you're instructing a replacement."

Ianto shrugged. "Who knows how long you'll force me to stay here. Anything could happen."

"Are you sure you're feeling all right?" Jack asked, worry surging up.

A nod. "Just a bit tired."

Suddenly, Jack was reminded violently of the fact that he shouldn't be sitting here, engaging in idle conversation. "I should go," he said, eying Ianto carefully.

For a moment Ianto seemed as if he wanted to object, but then he sighed and shrugged. "Go ahead. I know you’ve got better things to do than sit around here with me."

The despondent tone of Ianto's voice alarmed Jack. "Listen," he said sternly, waiting for Ianto to look at him. "I wouldn't have the slightest problem with sitting at your bedside for days. You know I can do it," he added with a wink. "I just think I could be of better use to you if I joined Gwen and Tosh in their search of Varot's apartment. The sooner we can find what he used on you, the sooner we can give you the all-clear."

Ianto returned his look evenly. "Yes, all right," he said softly.

Jack found the lack of enthusiasm slightly grating, but he knew Ianto was going through a lot right now. "So it's okay?" he asked gently.

"Yeah…" Ianto turned his head to the side. "I'm going to try to sleep for a bit."

Jack looked at Ianto for a moment, struggling to find the right thing to say, but words failed him. He got up. "I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?" He leaned in and pressed a kiss to Ianto's lips before the other man had the chance to turn his head away. After another reassuring pat, he left the room.

Outside, Jack hesitated for a moment. The knot in his stomach felt almost painfully tight. He took a deep breath and rubbed both hands across his face. When he lowered them again, he caught Dr. Bennell looking at him from behind the desk. Taking another strengthening breath, he walked up to her.

"Dr. Bennell," he said pleasantly, extending his hand. "I have to apologize for my employee. He may be gruff, but I assure you he knows what he's doing."

"As long as you're sure," Dr. Bennell replied with little confidence as she shook his hand.

"Unfortunately I can't provide you with too much information as the case we're dealing with is strictly need to know, but you should know that the patient is currently in danger of multiple organ failure. He's hooked up to all the monitors, but he tends to be stubborn at times, so it might be a good idea to check on him periodically."

Dr. Bennell nodded. "Of course. I will inform one of the nurses."

"Thank you, doctor." Jack smiled. "I need to leave for a while. Here's my card. Please call me if anything comes up." With that he turned on his heel and left for the elevators.

 

*******************************

 

"Jack! How's Ianto?"

Jack had barely made it across the threshold of Varot's apartment when he found himself surrounded by Tosh and Gwen. He appreciated their concern and gave them a quick rundown of the situation. He knew they were just as worried as he was, but he also knew they needed to focus on the task at hand, so he kept it short.

"So, did you find anything in the meantime?" he asked once he had finished.

"I scanned the place before we started," Tosh replied, lifting the tool in her hand. "Since you mentioned the booby traps we might encounter. So far, I haven't been able to find anything."

"Looks like he was bluffing," Gwen said, arms crossed in front of her chest.

Jack frowned. "Well, keep on the lookout anyway. He can't be trusted." He walked down the hall, looking into every room until he found the bedroom. "Did you check here for traps as well?"

"Yes, that was the first thing we checked," Tosh replied.

"I'm going to check the floorboards then. You keep outside, just in case there's something the scanner didn't pick up." He closed the door behind him and walked towards the wardrobe. Over his shoulder he perceived the dominant presence of the large bed in the center of the room and he tried his best not to think about what had happened there many times in the past couple of months.

Carefully, he turned the knob of the wardrobe door and pushed it open. The wardrobe looked nothing out of the ordinary on the inside. He rummaged through the clothes briefly, checking for anything noteworthy, but found nothing.

"Okay, here goes," he murmured to himself as he kneeled down to inspect the floor. Pushing a couple of shoes aside, he revealed the floorboards beneath. It wasn't hard to find the loose one as it was clearly dislodged as if it had been hastily replaced. Using a key for leverage, Jack lifted it up and pulled it out.

Nothing happened. No explosion, no sudden gas emission, no alarm. Disappointed, Jack reached into the compartment and found it empty. Cursing, Jack sat back on his heels. After a brief moment of consideration, he checked under the bed,  but found nothing but lint and dust.

"Found anything?" Gwen called from the kitchenette when she heard Jack exit the bedroom.

"No, nothing. Varot must have been here before us." Jack felt like kicking himself for not thinking about checking the apartment sooner. He had let everything distract him and now valuable information may have been lost. "What about you?" he asked with a glimmer of hope.

"Not much," Tosh replied, her voice sounding tired and discouraged. "I'm scanning everything I can find in the kitchen cupboards and bathroom, but there's nothing unusual about it. Gwen is packing some things, but even then… if we don't know what we're looking for it will take us weeks to test them all."

"Don't worry," Jack said, putting his hand on Tosh's shoulder in a comforting gesture. "Ianto's condition is stable and we're working on it. It will be okay." He smiled and hoped that it looked sincere. Now if only he could convince himself that all would be well.

Fighting down the apprehension that was threatening to overwhelm him once more, he continued to search the apartment methodically, paying no attention to value or property as he tore apart everything he could get his hands on.

After another half an hour, all they had managed to uncover was a couple of technical devices that must have been of little value to Varot as he had taken no effort to hide them. Every time Jack happened upon a good hiding place, he found it strangely empty. It was beginning to frustrate him.

"What's the point of this," Gwen said, echoing his own thoughts. She wiped the back of her hand across her sweaty forehead as she surveyed the trashed apartment.

Jack didn't bother to reply. He returned to the bedroom. The mattress lay turned over on the floor, the drawers of the nightstand had been pulled out and their contents poured out. They had taken every single piece of clothing out of the wardrobe and checked it. All to no avail.

He stepped in front of the wardrobe once more and looked at it. Following a sudden inspiration, he stepped into it and ran his hands across the back. He knocked against the wall a couple of times. It sounded hollow.

Returning to the living room, Jack stepped out onto the balcony and looked at the apartment from the outside, frowning.

"Did you find something?" Gwen called from inside.

"I'm not sure yet," he replied as he stepped back inside. "It looks like the floor plan doesn't match. Maybe…" He went back to the wardrobe and looked around for a button, lever or anything of that sort. He noticed a bump on the ridge of the top shelf that stood out more than the others. He pressed it.

There was a whirring sound. The back of the wardrobe shifted and swung back with a click. A moment later, a painful jolt shot through Jack and knocked him clean out. When he came to again, he found Gwen and Tosh kneeling over him, looking worried.

"Wow, I think that just killed me," he said, rubbing his aching head. "Good thing it was me who pressed that button." He allowed Gwen to help him up. He looked at the newly discovered doorway to a hidden room. "You two stay here. I'm not taking any more chances."

Jack stepped inside. It was a mini lab. It contained everything Jack could imagine one would need for research. The walls were covered in notes, photographs and plans. Jack stepped closer to look at them and they made him shiver involuntarily.

He found meticulous notes detailing the daily routines of all the members of Torchwood. Eventually, Varot must have decided to focus on Ianto as there were a lot more about him than anyone else. There were pictures of his favorite places and even some of his apartment, showing the pictures in his bedroom, including the one of Jack.

On a bookshelf were several thick volumes on insurance as well as books on Cardiff, the UK and the 20th century in general. Next to it was a stack of copies of letters. Jack leafed through it and realized they were official correspondence between either Owen or Ianto and the government, informing them of his disappearance, discussing future course of action. Apparently, Varot had kept himself informed on every aspect of Torchwood.

Jack turned towards the laboratory equipment. His heart jumped when he saw the small case in the center of the desk, containing dozens of vials.

"Did you find anything?" Gwen asked from the bedroom.

"Yes, quite a bit," he called back. "You can come in. It's safe." He heard Gwen gasp and turned towards her.

"That's my apartment!" Gwen exclaimed, pointing at a photograph.

"Yup. And here's Tosh's. Lee Harvey Oswald had nothing on this guy. Check around a bit and see if you can find anything useful." Carefully, Jack approached the case. His recent experiences had taught him to be suspicious of anything concerning Varot.

The case looked surprisingly vintage. Perhaps that meant the substances inside the bottles already were known, Jack hoped as he brushed with his fingertips across the unlabelled containers. He frowned when he noticed some were missing.

Closing the lid of the case, Jack tucked it under his arm and turned around with it. His eyes scanned the room, looking for a dustbin. When he found it, he stepped up to it and looked inside.

His heart sank when he saw a number of empty glass bottles among charred pieces of burnt paper. Still he fished it all out and bagged it. Anything could be useful. He took similar care in preparing the box for transportation. He was not about to risk any more losses.

When he was all packed, he turned to Gwen who was still busy scanning the room. "I'm going to take this back to the Hub now. Owen might be able to do something with it. You two finish up searching the area, then you move on to Ianto's apartment and do the same there, okay?"

He hesitated, an odd concern striking him. "Listen, when you're at Ianto's place, try not to cause too much chaos, okay? Ianto will hate it when he hears about it. We don't want to upset him further. I suggest you go for all the stuff he came in contact with. His skin care products, toothpaste, food from his fridge, anything. Don't forget the countless cleaning supplies he has. The chemicals in those could kill anyone even without malicious intent."

"We're on it, Jack."

Jack nodded contentedly. He felt grateful for being able to put everything into his team's very capable hands while he moved one notch up in the hierarchy of hero of the day by assisting Owen. He probably was looking at hours of endless taunts and sarcastic jabs, but at least there he'd get the feeling that he was actually doing something to help Ianto.

 

*******************************

 

As expected, Jack found Owen in the lab, busily wheeling around on his chair between the different workstations where he had several tests running at once. He looked up briefly when he heard Jack come in, immediately raising his index finger, signaling him to keep quiet as he leaned over a microscope.

Jack watched him with bated breath, but the tension was soon replaced with disappointment as Owen pulled back with a curse and tossed his pencil into the corner. "Fucking useless," he muttered, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Still no luck?" Jack asked, placing the case on the desk.

"Where did you get that idea? Obviously I solved this half an hour ago and now I'm just messing around! What do you think, Harkness?" Owen replied testily.

"I'm sorry." Jack pulled up a chair and sat down.

Owen leaned back with a sigh and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "No… I'm sorry. I just hate that I can't seem to find a way of tackling this. It's as if nothing's there! Ianto's dying and I have no bloody clue why. And there's no doubt that he is." He pulled out a print-out and tossed it on the desk. "With readings like this it's a miracle he's still conscious."

Jack's stomach plummeted. "That bad?"

"I'm afraid so." Owen kicked the leg of the desk. "I've tried everything I can think of, Jack," he said angrily. "There are just so many factors that could affect the organs. Let's just take the kidney alone. There's cadmium, mercury, sodium, naphthalene, dilantin, methanol, arsenic, potassium permanganate... Tell me when to stop."

He got up, raking his fingers through his hair. "Some of these are conditions I can treat. But there are others I simply can't. And then are others you need to sit out, but I'm not sure if we've got that much time!"

Jack watched the doctor pacing the lab with a frown. He wasn't sure what had happened to make Owen lose his confidence, but he didn't like it.

"I could narrow down the list if I took all the symptoms into account," Owen continued, "but who's to say that Varot didn't combine any toxins? And then again we might be looking for a poison that hasn't even been invented yet, and where am I going to start looking then?" He laughed without humor. "Oh, and then of course there's the fact that there's nothing in his blood at all, other than the obvious signs of organ failure."

He threw his hands up. "We're looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack. Or make that iron molecule in the barn. It's fucking useless." He plopped back into the chair, shaking his head, looking dejected.

Jack looked at him thoughtfully for a long time. Then he asked calmly, "Okay, what's wrong?"

Owen's head whipped up. "What? You're asking me that? Is that some kind of rhetorical question?"

Not letting Owen's cockiness faze him, Jack just looked at the other man calmly, waiting for a proper answer. The look was returned defiantly. When Owen persistently refused to answer, Jack sighed softly and said, "You're afraid of failure."

Owen pressed his lips together, still keeping quiet, but the glint that had flickered through his eyes had told Jack all he needed to know.

"It's okay. I'm afraid, too," Jack said. "I'm thinking, what if all my experience isn't worth a damn? What if I can't fix this?" He waited for a while, allowing the other man to sort out his thoughts.

Eventually, Owen came around and sighed. "I just don't know what to do, Jack," he murmured softly. "Maybe I'm not that great a doctor after all. Most of my patients are usually alien or dead. Either way, I don't exactly care all that much if I succeed or not. But this  time…" He stopped.

Jack understood. "You're allowed to care for your patients, you know."

The internal struggle was apparent on the other man's face. "What if I fail? What if he…"

"You will not fail," Jack said sharply, not allowing the other man to finish the sentence. "You know full well what makes you so good; it's the fact that you don't give a damn about rules. You always focus on the problem and think outside the box to solve it. That's what makes you such a brilliant doctor, license or no, and that's the reason I hired you."

Jack leaned forward, trying his best impression of an encouraging smile. "So, accept the fact that you care, but don't let it interfere with your work. Which is why you will get back to that microscope and bust your ass trying to figure this out. And if I have to sit next to you the entire time, kicking you when you end up pitying yourself too much, so help me God I will. You will succeed. I expect no less from you, do you hear me?"

Owen looked at him in shock for a moment, then he snorted loudly. "Guess I needed that."

"Damn right you did." Jack gave it a moment to sink in before saying with a slanted smile, "I have full confidence in you and you'd better have it too. Who else could do this than the doctor who successfully treated an epidemic of bubonic plague in Central London or who figured out a vaccine that saved an entire planet's population?"

Jack could tell how his words had given the other man a boost of confidence. Filled with new energy, Owen sat up straight, turning towards the case Jack had brought in. "Right, let's look at this then," he said, flipping open the lid. His eyes narrowed to slits as he went through all the vials.

"Can you do anything with this?" Jack asked after giving the doctor a moment.

"Well, something for sure, question is whether it'll be any good. Unfortunately none of them are labeled with "Substance Used to Poison Ianto", so I'll need to analyze them all." Owen sighed and rubbed his neck. "That'll take a while…"

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Owen considered it for moment. "Yes. You can help me run the substances through the particle analyzer and the mass spec. We'll use Varot's device for better results, but use ours to verify them. You never know…"

"Good thinking." Jack watched Owen prepare the first sample for analyzing, then followed his instructions to do his own. Together, they got all the samples prepared in no time and then sat there, watching the machines work. Neither of them talked.

While they were still waiting for the results, Gwen and Tosh returned, loaded with boxes.

"Whoa, hold it right there!" Owen said before they even had a chance to set down their boxes. "What do you think this is? A junk-shop?" He looked at the two women who had their arms full, then he glanced around the corner where even more boxes were stacked up next to the door. "How on earth do you expect me to test all of this?"

"We just grabbed everything that seemed to be even remotely useful," Gwen said defensively, leaning against the doorframe to shift the weight.

Owen gave them a pitying look. "The only substances relevant are the ones that can get into the system fast enough. Of course we can't completely exclude slow acting toxins, but the fact that all his organs are failing at the same time in such a well-coordinated manner leads me to believe that it must have been something Ianto's been exposed to very recently, within the last two or three days, or so."

He dug up a bottle from the box Gwen was holding, a mocking expression on his face. "That's why I don't really think sun lotion is relevant. Also, preferably the substance would need to be ingested, inhaled or injected to allow for this kind of reaction time."

Jack felt a little foolish listening to Owen. After all, it had been his idea to take just about everything they could get their hands on. "Well, then let's give this some serious thought," he said quickly before anyone thought to point that out. "Let's weed through the stuff then and see what we can really use."

"Yeah, but do that somewhere else. Don't distract a genius at work. Get those boxes out of my lab. I need to be able to move around in here," Owen mumbled as he turned towards the printer which had started whirring.

Rolling his eyes, Jack assisted Tosh and Gwen with carrying the boxes into his office. Then he helped them look through it.

"This is really difficult," Tosh muttered, looking at two different tubes of toothpaste. "How are we supposed to tell which products Ianto has used in the past couple of days?"

Jack had a similar problem, looking at different jars of jam.

"Maybe we should just ask him," Gwen suggested.

The idea was simply brilliant in its simplicity. "Gwen, you're great," Jack said enthusiastically as he tossed the jar back into the box. "You go do that now. No need to waste our time doing guesswork. Tosh, go back to the lab and see if you can help Owen with the analyzing. And I…" Suddenly it occurred to Jack that he was quite useless. "I'll find something to do."

Soon he found himself alone in his office. He considered going back to the lab to assist the others, but he knew that he would only be in the way. If this was a mechanical problem, he might have been of use, but he had to admit to himself that he knew next to nothing about chemistry.

The thought of Owen doing all the work was strange. He was used to being the first in line, being in charge. Just sitting around idly, waiting for others to come in with results made him feel useless and it also made him feel guilty. He should be there for Ianto.

Determined not to let the others do all the work, Jack leaned over the boxes once more, trying to think of what he could imagine Ianto using. He tried to think back on the few times he had spent the night at Ianto's place. There weren't really any memories of Ianto eating. Apparently, he simply wasn't the breakfast type.

Jack thought back to his conversation with Ianto earlier. He'd said he hadn't really eaten anything over the past few days. The last thing he'd probably eaten had been the Chinese food… brought in by Varot.

For about a second, Jack felt ridiculously excited and he was already on his way up to the tourist office when he realized that he'd seen Varot eat from it as well. What were the chances that Varot would put the toxin into the same container of food he'd been eating from?

Dejected, Jack leaned against the wall of the elevator, closing his eyes for a moment. Then the thought hit him. The coffee! Varot had brought Ianto coffee every morning. It would have been absolutely inconspicuous if he had put something into the last cup of coffee he'd brought Ianto.

He was out of the elevator as soon as the door opened and rushed towards the desk. With Ianto having been so busy, certainly nobody had thought of cleaning out the bins. He pulled back the chair and found the dustbin overflowing with crumpled up paper. He dug through it until his fingers touched the surface of a paper cup. With a whoop of triumph, Jack pulled it out of the rubbish.

His moment of victory was interrupted by his custom ringtone announcing Gwen's call.

"I've talked to Ianto," she said as soon as he'd picked up. She hesitated before she added, "At least I tried."

The tone of her voice alarmed Jack and he immediately asked, "Why? What's wrong?"

"He's not doing so good, Jack. He's started vomiting and they're giving him pain medication now."

Jack closed his eyes, willing down the fear. "We've got to hurry. Give me the list."

"Well, there isn't one. Like I said, he couldn't get into detail. But he said that he didn't really eat anything at his or Varot's place in the past couple of days and he only uses his own toiletries. So I suggest we just take that box and try our best there. I've marked it with 'Ianto bathroom'."

"Okay." Jack hesitated. "Gwen… can you…"

"I'll stay with Ianto, don't worry. I'll call you as soon as there's any change."

"Thank you," Jack replied, sincerely grateful. While he was still finishing off the conversation, he returned to the elevators. Back in his office, he scanned the room for the box in question, locating it quickly. He grabbed it and carried it down to the lab.

"Have any of you ever wondered why Varot was bringing Ianto coffee every day?" Jack said as he placed the box on the desk next to Owen. "What's wrong with ours?" He took the paper cup from the top of the box. "I think we should have a look at this."

"Bloody hell, you're right!" Owen exclaimed, snatching the paper cup from his hand. "He's brought those bloody cups every day for as long as they've been dating. He would have been able to spike it with something without any of us being any wiser, especially since he had a pretty clear idea of when we were going to bust him."

He grabbed a cotton swab from the drawer and used it to swipe out the bottom of the cup. "Let's hope there's enough residue for the analyzer," he muttered as he slid it into a test tube and added the fluid Tosh handed him. Carefully, he swirled everything around before inserting it into the analyzer.

A few moments later, the machine gave a positive signal. "Yes!" Owen shouted. "Now we'll just wait for those results and maybe they'll be the solution to all our problems." He looked at the box on his desk. "What's this?"

"Gwen says Ianto's only been using his regular toiletries over the past few days."

Giving Jack a look that clearly showed that he was only indulging him, Owen leaned over to peer into the box. He raised his eyebrows and pulled something out of it. Heat shot to Jack's cheeks when he realized it was the bottle of lube from Ianto's nightstand.

A revolted expression appeared on the other man's face. "You don't expect me to test that, do you, Harkness."

The heat intensified when Jack replied, "Er no, that one must have slipped in there… Er, I don't really think that is relevant considering I've come in contact with it as well and I haven’t shown any symptoms…"

Owen looked at him, unblinking, before dropping the bottle back into the box. "Right. Good point. Now that that embarrassing moment is behind us, let's discuss our test results from the wooden case, shall we." He pulled out a print-out. "Tosh and I have been looking at the results of the particle analysis. As expected, we couldn't find a match for some of the substances. Luckily, they were combined with substances that we do know, so we can somewhat anticipate the toxic properties. They simply don't match with the symptoms Ianto is showing, so we can dismiss them."

"Dismissing is good, right?" Jack pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Yes, it is. Others we could check by running petri dish tests with human cell organisms on them, as well as seeing how the substances interact with various chemicals drawn from human physiology. We could accelerate the results thanks to Tosh's uncanny ability to operate every piece of alien technology we've recovered. Five minutes in those incubators replace weeks of testing, seriously. Oddly enough, all of them seem completely harmless. In fact, they appear to be no more than nutritional supplements at best."

Jack frowned. "Strange. Well, I suppose not everything he kept in there was meant to harm others. Perhaps he used those substances to make antidotes for his concoctions!"

"Yes, that's possible. We'll definitely keep that in mind," Tosh chimed in.

"Anyway," Owen continued. "Bottom line is this; we could narrow the list down to these few ones here. These are the samples that either didn't react to the petri dish tests or contained substances that could have attributed for some of Ianto's symptoms. Or," Owen paused for a moment. "Or that contained substances we've no idea what they do."

Jack looked at the line of bottles Owen pointed at. "And how are we going to find that out?"

"That I don't know." All three of them exhaled deeply and sagged into their chairs, staring at the bottles in thoughtful silence.

The analyzer beeped to announce the results from the coffee sample. Owen jumped up and grabbed the print-out. Disappointment was written all over his face when he looked at it. "Well fuck me… it's another one of those harmless do-nothings!" He crumpled up the paper and tossed it into the corner. "There goes our big hope!"

"Owen, wait!" Tosh said as she picked up the paper and smoothed it out. "Let me look at it too."

"What for? It's obviously non-toxic! Just some hormone that aids metabolic processes. If anything, he's probably given it to Ianto to increase the effect of whatever he's poisoned him with. It's a dead end." Owen raked his fingers through his hair.

"Calm down, Owen," Tosh said, still studying the print-out. "We've still got other substances to test. This could definitely be a key. There's another unknown element here, in case you hadn't noticed. We can't run any petri dish tests on this tiny amount, but if I put this in the replicator, I might be able to…" She rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Fine, go ahead and do that then," Owen said with a snort. "But if we don't find the toxin, the accelerator won't do shit." He looked lost for a moment, standing there in the middle of the lab. Then his eyes met Jack's and he pressed his lips together in newfound determination.

"Okay, let's think," he said after drawing a strengthening breath. "What do we do now?"

"Run more tests?" Jack suggested.

"We've already exhausted our options here," Tosh replied. "The only thing left to try would be animal testing."

"Why don't we do that then?" Jack asked.

Owen huffed. "Want to drive up to the pet store and get a couple of rats? We're a little understocked here as we don't usually do this sort of thing. Besides, just because it kills a rat doesn't mean it'd kill a human as well. For really effective testing we'd need…" Owen interrupted himself, staring into the void for a moment. Then he exclaimed, "I've got it!"

"What?" The doctor's sudden eruption had startled Jack for a moment, but now he sat up straight, eagerly waiting for the answer.

"I just realized we've got the perfect guinea pig right here at the Hub."

"Yes? What is it?" Jack frowned. "Not a Weevil, is it. Gwen would never…"

"Nope." Owen pointed at Jack. "It's you."

"What, me?"

"Yes, you."

"But, Owen! You can't do that. It's too dangerous!" Tosh exclaimed.

Owen dismissed her with a wave of his hand. "Oh please. What's the worst thing that could happen? That he receives a lethal dose and dies?"

Tosh opened her mouth to say something else, but Jack interrupted her excitedly. "No, Tosh. Owen is right! This is a great idea. Let's do it!"

"I have no idea what those substances are going to do to you," Owen warned. "Some effects might be really nasty."

Jack shrugged. "I don't care as long as it helps Ianto."

"That’s the spirit." Owen patted Jack on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go."

"Where are we going?" Jack asked, watching Owen pack up some supplies. "Can't we do it right here?"

"No. If we're doing something crazy like this, I'd rather do it in an environment where I can at least use the results to our best abilities. We're going to the vault."

"The vault?" Jack followed the other man up the stairs. "Oh! I get it! That way we can take a full bioscan, blood and metabolism profile, and so on. Good idea!"

They took the elevator down to a level where most cells were vacant. There, Owen set himself up at a table. "Okay, this is going to be relatively easy. You chuck the substance and we wait for results."

"Okay…" Jack said, hands on his hips. "Why only drink it though?

Owen shrugged. "It's a wild guess. I just think Ianto would have noticed if he had been injected with anything lately." He held up a small vial. "Additionally, I'm going to inject you with this drug. It will accelerate the reaction time of any toxin. If you don't react within minutes it's probably not within the timeframe we're looking for. Ready?"

Jack looked at the equipment laid out on the table, then he looked at Owen holding the tourniquet and a syringe. He felt just a twinge of nervousness, wondering what was going to happen. He'd died so many times in so many different ways, but it had been awful every time.

Most people were afraid of death because of the prospect of staying dead. If they knew how it actually felt to die they'd hope for it to be the last time. The thought of Ianto lying in his hospital bed struck him and he swallowed thickly. "Yes, I'm ready," he said firmly.

He bared his arm and watched Owen inject the accelerating drug. Then he stepped into the cell while Owen punched in a couple of commands into the panel next to the door.

"All right," Owen said, turning to the table. "I'm preparing the first sample now." He uncorked a flask with a yellowish liquid inside and poured a small amount into a plastic cup. "This will be round one. Wait until I've closed the door to prevent any error of measurement."

Jack did as he was told and waited for the other man to return to the panel and for the doors to close.

"Okay, the bioscan is running." Owen looked at the monitor. "A little nervous, are you?" He said with a grin.

"As if you wouldn't be!" Jack replied with a grimace, looking at the cup in his hand. "Okay… here goes! Cheers!" Closing his eyes, Jack knocked back everything with one gulp. It tasted horrible. "Urgh…" He coughed. "This is extremely bitter. If Varot put that into anything Ianto ate, it must have been well disguised and…"

An agonizing pain shot through his skull. He reached up, rubbing his forehead. "My… head… oh God. It hurts… a lot." He groaned and leaned against the wall. He got so dizzy that he couldn't tell where he was anymore. The pain rose to such a level where he began to wish violently for death just so that it would stop.

While he was still struggling to keep on his feet, a burning sensation spread out in his lungs. He drew a shuddering breath but realized that it was almost impossible. The need to cough became strong, but he had no air. Retching up a gush of blood, he collapsed.

Jack woke up from Owen slapping his cheek. He felt better instantly.

"Okay, that one definitely wasn't it," Owen said, sitting back on his heels.

With a groan, Jack sat up. His shirt was splattered with blood. He looked at the other man and noticed how pale he was. "Are you okay?"

"Says the guy who just died of cerebral hemorrhaging and a pulmonary edema," Owen replied with a nervous laugh. "That was a bit weird. When you flatlined I couldn't help but worry for a second."

"I'm good," Jack confirmed. "So, this one affected the brain and the lungs."

Owen nodded. "Yes. That is a very effective test." He handed Jack a bottle of water which he took gratefully. "Ready for another one?"

Jack had the strong urge to say no. Yet he nodded. "Let's go for it." He took a large gulp from the water bottle.

"Okay. I have to inject you with the drug again as your system most likely has reset itself. Otherwise you'd still be experiencing symptoms." Owen got up and returned with the syringe and another plastic cup. When he was done, he withdrew to the other side of the door once more. "Go."

Jack swallowed the entire contents of the cup with one gulp. It went down easily. "Okay, this tastes rather pleasant, actually," he said, tasting the slight sweetness. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and waited. "Still feeling okay."

"Yes, I can see that." Owen looked at his wristwatch.

Jack was just about to declare this substance harmless when a jab of pain shot through his chest and radiated down his left arm. He dropped the bottle. "Oh-oh. I think this one's hitting my heart," he gasped, clutching his left breast. He swayed on his feet. His heart beat turned into an irregular staccato. "Shit, that hurts."

"Tachycardia," Owen announced. "Kidney, lungs and liver function normal. Keep going."

"Like… I have… a choice…" The pressure on his chest was unbearable. Jack drew a labored breath that seemed completely ineffective. Then everything went black.

When Jack regained consciousness this time, Owen was looking at him from the other side of the room, leaning against the wall of the cell. There was a haunted expression on his face. "Not sure I'll ever get used to watching this…"

"Let's hope you don't have to," Jack mumbled as he scrambled to his feet. "So what was that? Heart attack?"

"Yup. Also known as myocardial infarction." Owen pushed himself off the wall and walked towards Jack. He looked hesitant before he spoke. "So… did it hurt a lot?"

Jack laughed shakily, combing his fingers through his hair. It was matted with sweat. "Well, let's say all those brochures aren't kidding. Watch out for the signs." The question struck him as a little odd. "Why?"

Owen shrugged. "It's just… my grandfather died of a heart attack and I was wondering…" He shrugged again.

Jack understood. He put on an encouraging smile. "Believe me, there are deaths worse than that. This one was relatively swift in comparison to some others. I don't think he suffered."

An undefined snort was the only reply. Jack rinsed his mouth again.

Quickly, Owen left the cell and grabbed the syringe again. "Round three."

They repeated the process of injection and swallowing and waited. Nothing happened.

"I'm still feeling fine," Jack announced, watching Owen mess around with the panel.

"No ill feelings at all? Dizziness? Nausea? Slight discomfort?"

"Nope. I'm perfectly fine. Maybe this one was another harmless one?"

"Maybe…" Owen's voice trailed off. "Let me change the monitor… whoa!"

Jack stepped closer to the door. "What is it?"

"Now this one's interesting. I'm not sure what exactly it's doing, but it's in the process of corrupting your DNA as we speak."

"Shouldn't that hurt?" Jack asked, getting a little worried.

"Not yet!" He typed in something. "Okay, no clue what it's going to do to you, but it will take a while and it's not what we're looking for."

"Okay, then let's move on to the next!"

Owen gave him his look reserved for stupid people. "We can't just stick another drug on top of this. It would warp the results."

Jack groaned in frustration. They hadn't anticipated this. It could cost them valuable time. "So what do we do? Sit this one out?"

"I guess we have to. Unless we somehow manage to reset you…" Owen rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. Then he froze. "I think I've got an idea." He pressed the door opener and stepped into the cell.

"What are you doing? You're going to change the results!" Jack said, taking a surprised step back.

"Don't worry. This test series is concluded." A nervous smile flickered across Owen's face.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked, frowning at the other man's sudden edgy behavior.

"Yeah…" Owen mumbled. Then he lifted the gun in his hand and shot Jack straight between the eyes.

When Jack revived with a gasp, he found himself slumped in the corner of the cell. He immediately sat up straight and shouted, "What the fuck was that for?" He lifted his hand and rubbed the spot where the bullet had entered not long ago. It was completely healed up already.

"It was the quickest way to reset you," Owen said, crouched on the floor. "Besides, I'm already all traumatized for shooting my boss before, so a couple more times won't hurt." He laughed awkwardly and got up.

"You maybe!" Jack retorted testily as he got up as well. "Do you have any idea how much this stings?"

"More than all your cells disintegrating and turning liquid?" Owen inquired, his eyebrows raised in mock question. "Because that's what would have happened to you eventually when the DNA change had been completed. I was just fast-forwarding the process."

Scowling at the other man, Jack picked a piece of skull from his collar. "How many more tests do we have to do?"

"A couple…" Owen said with an apologetic smile.

"Then let's get to it. I don't know how much longer I can go on."

With grim determination, they went through the other substances. Jack collapsed, fainted, bled out and vomited until he thought he couldn't stand it anymore. They had to change cells twice because of the mess Jack had made while dying.

Eventually, they were down to the last test. It was the vial with the replicated substance from Ianto's coffee. Tosh had brought it in, eyeing their mess warily.

"Don't tell Gwen about this," Owen had said when he had noticed the look of disbelief on her face.

Now they were standing around Owen who was holding the vial in his hand like a precious gem. "All right… this is our last chance," he muttered, turning the vial in the dim light. "Let's hope for the best."

Jack nodded grimly. They had worked their asses off trying to solve this and even though Owen had gained useful insight into Varot's work from this, it hadn't really brought them any closer towards finding the remedy for Ianto's ailment.

Under Tosh's curious eyes, Owen prepared Jack in the same way he'd done several times before. Jack took the plastic cup and swallowed the contents. Then they waited. Jack had given up reporting on his condition long ago. He had eventually figured out that Owen knew all that from the bioscan already.

After a couple of minutes of breathless tension, Owen looked at the monitor with a dejected sigh and shook his head. "I don't think it's doing anything…" he said glumly.

"Maybe you're worn out?" Tosh suggested, the tiniest hint of a hopeful smile on her face, but Owen just dismissed it with another shake.

For a moment, Jack couldn't speak. The feeling of disappointment was so overwhelming that he wanted to grab the entire tray of bottles and hurl it against the wall. They had wasted so much time on this and it was all in vain. He buried his face in his hands and groaned deeply, trying to control his anger and frustration.

"Are you all right?" Owen asked, immediately alarmed.

Jack didn’t answer. He tried to think of solutions, of anything else they could do. "Take my blood," he finally said.

"What for?" Owen looked at him with a frown.

"Maybe you can find something in my blood. I don't know. Just… do something!"

"The bioscans would have picked up any change…"

"Just do it!" Jack took a deep breath. He hadn't meant to snap at the other man, but he found it difficult to deal with the feelings of loss and disappointment.

Owen chose not to argue any longer and grabbed the tourniquet and a fresh cannula from the table. He drew a generous amount of blood and filled several test tubes with it. "Guess it's time to grasp for straws," he said softly as he placed the tubes onto the tray.

A downcast silence bore down on the three of them. It was broken by the piercing shrill of Jack's phone. It made everyone jerk in surprise.

With a feeling of dread settling in the pit of his stomach, Jack pulled the phone out of his pocket and opened it. "Yes?" he asked softly.

"Jack…" Gwen sounded upset. "You have to come to the hospital."

 

*******************************

 

Jack barged through the hospital door, his coat swinging behind him. He had to fend off several nurses who came rushing to his assistance, seeing the splatters of blood on his shirt. After the third one, he finally fastened the front of his coat to stop them from following him to the elevators. It probably would have been a wise decision to change shirts before coming here, but he hadn't wanted to lose any time.

Gwen's call had shaken him to the core. They had been so focused on working on this, on solving the mystery that they had almost, for a brief moment, forgotten what exactly was at stake. The call had brought it all back with brutal force.

Now he was rushing towards the hospital room, his heart thumping in his chest, and he could feel his palms getting wet. He stopped in front of the door, his hand hesitating against the cool surface. What was he going to see? Gritting his teeth, Jack forced himself not to dwell on the subject. There was only one way to find out. He pushed the door open.

Whatever it was he'd been expecting, the scene in front of him still hit him like a punch in the guts. At first, he could hardly see Ianto among the many machines and wires. An oxygen mask covered most of his face and the regular beep of a monitor was surprisingly reassuring.

Gwen turned to him as soon as she heard him come in. Her face was streaked with tears. "Thank God you're here!" she exclaimed as she threw herself into his arms.

Jack hugged her back with equal desperation, his eyes never leaving the man lying on the bed. "How is he?" he finally managed to ask when his throat unclenched enough to allow him to speak.

"He's slipping in and out of consciousness all the time. He was doing okay until just an hour ago. The pain meds were working and they were controlling his vomiting. But then suddenly…" She sobbed, pressing her face into his shoulder. "The meds stopped working and there was nothing they could do to stop the pain. It was awful, Jack!"

She pushed herself out of Jack's embrace and looked at him, her large eyes brimming with tears. "Dr. Bennell came in and wanted to put Ianto into an artificial coma. I said I can't decide that." She rubbed her face angrily with the back of her hand. "I mean, I had no idea if you needed to ask him anything, and I didn't want to take that kind of a decision. But, Jack… I feel so bad, letting him suffer like that."

Jack closed his eyes for a second. He knew how she felt, but at the same time he was grateful that he still got a chance to talk to Ianto. "No, you did well, Gwen," he said softly, squeezing her arms. His eyes wandered back to the man lying there. Gently, he released her and walked over to the bed.

Ianto appeared to be sleeping, but as soon as Jack sat down next to him, his lids fluttered open. An expression of relief seemed to wash across Ianto's face when his hazy eyes locked with Jack's.

"Hey," Jack said softly, putting his hand on the other man's.

Ianto blinked at him slowly, acknowledging that he'd heard. Then he motioned towards his oxygen mask weakly with the other hand.

"You want me to take it off for you?" Jack asked. He cast Gwen a questioning look. "Is it okay?" Gwen shrugged, twirling her hair nervously.

When Jack hesitated further, Ianto reached up and pulled the mask off himself. He licked his dry lips.

Jack felt his heart clench in his chest. "I thought we had agreed on you not dying while I was away," he joked, a bittersweet smile on his lips.

A dry laugh rattled in the other man's chest. "I don't… recall saying that." His voice sounded hoarse.

Tracing his hand through the other man's moist hair, Jack said tenderly, "I'm pretty sure there's a clause in your work contract covering that."

"I'll have to reread that." Ianto drew a labored breath and Jack lifted the oxygen to his mouth to help him.

"We haven't made any progress finding a cure," Jack finally said softly when Ianto dropped his head back on the pillow heavily.

Understanding dawned in the other man's eyes and he nodded slowly. "Do you need to leave again?"

Jack knew his smile was shaky. "No… I'll be staying with you for a while, if that's okay." He lifted Ianto's hand to his lips and pressed a kiss against the lax fingers. "How are you feeling?"

"Been better." Ianto's handsome features twisted for a moment and he drew in a hissing breath, seemingly fighting off the pain. Then he closed his eyes tiredly.

Jack thought Ianto had fallen asleep again. He replaced the oxygen mask and just let him rest, rubbing his hand gently. He felt the sting of tears crawling up his nose and gritted his teeth. He needed to be strong for Ianto now. Yet, a small sob escaped his throat before he could hold it in check.

He felt Gwen's hand on his shoulder. "Is there anything I can do, Jack?" she said softly, sounding so much stronger now.

He didn't look at her, just touched her hand with his across his shoulder, never taking his eyes off Ianto.

"Want me to get you a cup of coffee?" she asked when he didn't say anything.

"Yes, that'd be nice," he said, knowing that she'd only offered to give them some time alone.

She squeezed his shoulder once before letting go. The door clicked shut.

For a while, Jack just sat there, listening to the monitors giving off beeps at regular intervals. His eyes were fixed on Ianto's lying form. He didn't see the stark whiteness, the wires and cables and tubes, the pale complexion and dark shadows. All he saw was the constant rise and fall of Ianto's chest, signaling that at least for now everything was still okay.

Jack wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting there, lost in thoughts, when Ianto stirred and opened his eyes again.

"What is it?" he asked, his voice not much more than a raspy indication, once Jack had removed the mask. He must have noticed the wistful smile on Jack's face.

"I was just thinking about our romantic picnic on top of the Millennium Centre," Jack replied, brushing his knuckles across the other man's cheek.

Ianto frowned. "But that never happened."

Jack smiled sadly. "No, but I wish it had."

The laugh sounded more like a cough, but for a moment it made the deep lines around Ianto's mouth disappear. "Maudlin doesn't suit you."

Jack affected surprise. "I thought that was a timeless look."

"You must know," Ianto replied softly.

The hint of playful banter between them was too much for Jack and he leaned over, pressing his lips against Ianto's in silent desperation. The lips felt dry and cold, the tubes got in the way and the pungent smell of disinfectant assaulted his nose. Tears stung Jack's eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Ianto," he whispered hoarsely against the other man's temple.

"It's okay. It really is." Ianto's hand on his neck was gentler than Jack felt he deserved.

"Not, it's not!" he said angrily, pulling back to look at Ianto. "I've already resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to have to watch you die one day. But does it have to be so soon? You're cheating me out of a good fifty years here!"

Ianto looked at him silently for a long while and Jack could see the tell-tale moistness glistening in the other man's eyes. "This might actually work better if you didn't invoke my mortality every five minutes," Ianto croaked.

"Like you'd ever forget."

Ianto's brittle lips stretched to a tired smile. "You're right… the tube sticking out of my neck somewhat gives it away."

Jack tried to laugh, but he realized that it sounded more like a sob. He reached out and grabbed Ianto's hand, weaving their finger together. "Please… hold on just a little longer," he pleaded softly.

"I'm trying."

"Owen is going to find a cure."

Ianto unlinked their fingers and put his hand on top of Jack's, his touch radiating warmth in spite of everything. "Even if he doesn't, it's fine. I always knew that Torchwood would be the death of me one day."

The words made Jack's throat become unbelievably tight and he dropped his chin to his chest, drawing a strangled breath. For a moment, the pain was physical.

"Well, at least it didn't work out," Ianto said when Jack stayed silent.

"What didn't?" Jack asked in a strained voice, forcing down the anguish.

"Varot's plan." Ianto drew another labored breath. Then he continued softly, "He really must have loved her."

Jack had to blink a few times to clear his vision and refocus. "What?"

"I understand what it's like to be driven by love… But he didn't think it through. I'm not the same to you as Liana was to him."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked with a frown.

Ianto smiled softly. "It really doesn't matter whether you love me or not. As long as you're here…" He trailed off.

Jack still didn't quite understand. "But Ianto… of course I love you," he said, genuinely surprised.

They both fell into a stunned silence. "Really?" Ianto finally whispered.

Now that he had said it, Jack felt liberated. "Yes!" he confirmed and laughed softly, stroking Ianto's hair.

Ianto looked at him quietly, his eyes glittering in the stark light of the hospital room. "Guess it worked out after all then… I'm glad," he mumbled softly. "At least now I know I wasn't completely fooling myself."

"I was the one who was fooling myself." Jack picked up Ianto's hand again and pressed it against his lips, kissing each finger separately. "Aren't you going to say anything back?" he asked, his breath brushing across Ianto's fingers.

A shudder went through Ianto. "No. That'd be a bit soppy, don't you think?" He put his hand against Jack's cheek. "I'll tell you later."

Jack rubbed his face into the other man's palm. "Promise?"

"Yes."

Content for now, Jack put his head on the mattress, close to Ianto's shoulder. He felt Ianto's hand in his hair and closed his eyes. At some point, the stroking stopped and Jack knew Ianto had fallen asleep again. He felt the reassuring rise and fall under his hand across the other man's stomach.

It occurred to him that Gwen was taking inordinately long. She was probably waiting outside. For a moment he wondered whether he should ask her back in, but he decided against it.

Suddenly, Ianto jerked and he inhaled with a gasp. Jack immediately sat up and reached for the oxygen mask, but Ianto shook his head desperately when he tried to put it over his mouth and nose again.

"What is it, Ianto?" Jack asked, panic rising.

"Pain… my heart…" Ianto wheezed, his fingers cramping into the fabric of Jack's shirt.

"Oh no…" Jack whispered as he got up. "I'm going to get a doctor!"

Ianto clasped his arm so tightly that it hurt. "Please, don't leave," he said, his eyes wide. "I don't want to die alone."

The whispered plea floored Jack. "You're not going to die!" he shouted.

"You don't know that!"

Jack leaned down and grabbed Ianto's shoulders, making him look at him. "I'd say I'm an expert in dying." The monitors started giving off a panicked staccato of beeps and shrieks.

The fear in Ianto's eyes was unbearable for Jack. He wished he could say something to comfort the other man, but he knew too well what he was experiencing right now and what came afterwards. "Just hang in there, you hear," he implored, touching Ianto's damp cheek with shaking hands.

"The pain…"

"It'll stop, Ianto."

Before the other man had a chance to reply, the agitated beeping ceased and was replaced by a constant alarm that cut right into Jack's soul. Ianto's eyes rolled back in his head and all tension left his body.

"No!" Jack cried, feeling Ianto slacken under his hands.

The door was kicked open and Dr. Bennell rushed in together with three nurses pushing a crash cart. "Step away from him, we need to resuscitate!" she shouted as she pushed past Jack. He let it happen, staring at Ianto in speechless dread.

He watched them yank open Ianto's shirt and put the paddles to his chest. He saw the way Ianto's body spasmed with every jolt that was put through him, heard the agonizing sounds the shocks made against his naked skin and the way the beep refused to resume its pace.

Gwen appeared behind him, hands clasped over her mouth. "Please no…" she sobbed.

Jack couldn't talk, couldn't look away. Tears ran down his cheeks and dripped off his chin unchecked. Dr. Bennell stepped away from Ianto and shook her head sadly.

"Why are you stopping?" he exclaimed, waking from his paralysis.

"It's no use…" She replied, her eyes dark with compassion. "Even if I managed to get his heart going again, his other organs would fail eventually."

"No!" Jack said angrily, stepping up to the doctor. "You're not going to give up on him!"

"Captain Harkness," Dr. Bennell said politely but firmly. "If I shock his heart any more, it's going to sustain lasting damage. You'd be doing your friend no favors to force him back into such a life."

Jack wanted to continue arguing. He wanted to insist, persevere, fight. But deep down he knew the doctor was right. Overwhelmed with grief, he sank onto the stool next to the bed and picked up Ianto's limp hand, squeezing it. Tears welled up in his eyes again.

"Oh Ianto…" he whispered, looking at the other man's peaceful face. He ran his hand through Ianto's hair, putting it back in place. Then he buried his head in the bend of the other man's neck and cried quietly. After a while, he pulled back and covered Ianto's mouth gently with his. One last time he wanted to feel the touch of those lips.

Jack kissed him in quiet despair. Feeling no response cut deeper than any physical injury. He squeezed his eyes shut against the onslaught of emotion. Suddenly, he could feel the surge of energy rushing through him, making him dizzy.

At first, he barely realized when the beep cut through the silence of the room. It was the commotion behind him that alerted him to the fact that the monitors had started working again, irregularly at first but then with increasing rhythm, registering a heartbeat.

He pulled away, stunned for a moment.

"My God…" Dr. Bennell breathed as she watched the readings on the monitor stabilize. She lifted Ianto's eyelids and shone her penlight into his eyes a couple of times. "He's still unconscious, but…" She shook her head in disbelief. "This is impossible."

Jack barely heard what she said. Relief washed over him like a tidal wave. He moved his fingers up Ianto's hand and felt the pulse there himself as if he couldn't believe it.

The door behind him opened. "Dr. Bennell," he heard Owen's voice and turned around reluctantly.

"Dr. Harper," the other physician replied with equal aversion.

"Could you please leave us alone? We've got some confidential business to discuss," Owen said cockily as he stepped inside, carrying a bag. Tosh followed him close behind. Jack jumped to his feet.

"But…"

"We will alert you as soon as we require your assistance," Jack cut in before Owen had a chance to say anything.

Dr. Bennell pressed her lips together in icy disapproval. Then she nodded curtly and motioned the nurses to leave behind her.

Once they were alone, Owen turned to Jack. "Okay, what happened here?"

"Ianto died and Jack brought him back," Gwen replied, still sounding shaken.

"What?" Owen whipped out his own penlight and shone it into Ianto's eyes the same way Dr. Bennell had before. He checked the readings and looked at the print-out hanging from the tray. "One would think you'd be content with being the only one who defies natural laws," he said, cutting Jack a sidelong glance. "No improvement…" he mumbled as he consulted the clipboard on top of the monitors.

"Did you find anything?" Jack asked impatiently.

"Yes and no. I would have greatly enjoyed bursting in here with a dramatic fanfare, holding up the cure. Unfortunately, Varot hasn't made it that easy for us. I was hoping to be able to ask Ianto a couple of things, but looks like he's out of the game."

Jack felt so disappointed that he wanted to hit something. "Then why the hell are you here?" he snapped at the other man.

Owen was unfazed by his anger and held up a syringe. "Because of this."

Jack froze and stared at it. "What is it?"

"After you left, I analyzed your blood after the ingestion of the last unknown substance and compared it to a sample previously taken."

"And?" Jack could barely stand the tension.

"I noticed the presence of the substance. But it was in an altered state. Quite possibly your… immortal metabolism, or whatever, reacted to it. I'm not sure what it means, but I distilled it and here it is."

"And you don't know what it does?"

"No. It won't make him immortal, but I'm hoping that whatever it does, a touch of your sped-up regeneration will help repair any damage already sustained."

Jack's heart lurched in his chest with tentative hope. But then a thought struck him. "But this was the stuff that didn't have any effect on me, wasn't it? How could this help Ianto now?"

"Well," Owen said. "What happens if you take an aspirin and you don't have any pain?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"Exactly."

Jack looked at Ianto and swallowed thickly. "You call that nothing?

Owen groaned. "He was in pain, but he didn't know it! Remember you said that some of the substances might be what Varot used to make antidotes out of?" He sounded excited now, but Jack found it hard to join in. "What if we've had the wrong approach all along? We thought if we found the poison we'd find the cure. But what if the cure was under our noses the whole time?"

Making a swooping gesture, Owen continued, "While you were sitting here, holding Ianto's hand, I studied the various poisons once more. None of them matched the symptoms. Then I returned to the coffee cup. The thought struck me that maybe Ianto has been fed a poison in small doses for months. I know, I said earlier that we were looking for a fast-acting substance, but hey, grasping for straws, remember?"

Jack frowned. He found it hard to follow the other man's excited rambling. "So you're saying that he's been gradually poisoning Ianto over months? Why would it hurt Ianto now then?"

"No!" Owen groaned in frustration. "Listen to me. I returned to the substance, but I couldn't find any matches in the literature and it didn't seem to be harmful at all, as tested on you. So I thought to myself: what if I've been going at this from the wrong angle?"

"Get to the point already!" Jack ground out impatiently.

"So I got to wondering," Owen carried on, completely ignoring Jack's unease, "could it be possible to create a disease in a person through DNA modification that could be moderated and controlled via medication indefinitely? The answer is yes, you can!"

Finally, realization dawned on Jack. "So what you're saying is… Varot did something to Ianto months ago and was actually giving him medication for it every day?"

"Yes!" Owen threw up his hands. "That's what I wanted Ianto to confirm. I was going to ask him whether he got sick when he first met Jay. A cold, stomach flu, fever…"

"He came down with the flu shortly after they started dating," Gwen said, having listened to them attentively the entire time. "I remember because Jay, I mean Varot was the perfect boyfriend, bringing him soup, little presents… all sorts of things." She smiled sadly. "I was actually quite jealous."

Owen looked at Jack triumphantly. "There you have it!"

Somehow Jack couldn't share Owen's excitement. It all seemed so vague, so unsure, but he had to agree this would explain how Ianto had gotten sick only after Varot had gotten caught. He took a deep breath. "All right. Let's give it to him then and see what happens." He reached out for the syringe, but Owen pulled it back.

"There's a catch." Suddenly, Owen was completely serious. "I told you before that the substance aids metabolic processes in some way. It works as an accelerator, pretty much like the one I gave you during our tests. So there's a very good chance that if this isn't the cure it's going to give whatever is working inside of Ianto right now a boost and it will very likely kill him instantly."

Jack felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head. "So we might help him, or we might kill him?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Jack groaned and covered his face with his hands, inhaling deeply. For a moment, fear for Ianto seemed to squeeze his stomach into an incredibly tight ball and he felt like throwing up. He forced himself to calm down. "What do you suggest?" he asked, dropping his hands.

"I can't decide this, Jack," Owen said, looking surprisingly sympathetic. "You have to."

"Why me?"

"You're his boss. You're his…" Owen shrugged. "His lover. You have to live with the outcome of this."

Before Jack had a chance to react, the monitors started beeping erratically again. He was at Ianto's side in an instance.

"Fuck! We're running out of time!" Owen shouted. "Gwen! Make sure that blasted doctor doesn't come in with her team again!"

Gwen nodded and rushed outside.

"This is it, Jack!"

Jack looked at Ianto, still unconscious, then at the monitor where the ECG curve showed the same rhythmic anomalies it had before. It was only a matter of seconds before his heart would give out again. He'd never felt so helpless in his entire life. "Aren't there any tests we can do to confirm this?"

Owen shook his head impatiently. "We haven't got the time. Sure, we can bank on your kiss thing to work a second time, but are you really willing to take that risk?"

Jack bit his lip. He'd already seen Ianto die once. He wasn't keen on repeating the experience. But what if Owen was wrong? What if they ended up making everything worse? How would he be able to live with himself then?

"I don't know what to do!" he exclaimed, running his shaking fingers through his hair.

"Well, you'd better make up your mind soon or there won't be anything to decide anymore!"

The constant beeping was beginning to get on Jack's nerves. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe.

Owen cursed under his breath and started thumping on Ianto's chest. "Goddammit, Harkness! Do something!"

Ianto's words came to his mind. Jack laughed nervously. "Ianto said he'd always expected Torchwood to be the death of him. I bet he didn't expect it to be me!"

"What are you talking about?" Owen yelled as he continued the cardiac massage.

The image struck him all of a sudden. Varot standing on the rooftop, smiling coldly. _I always had a feeling that breaking up with me would kill him._ Suddenly Jack saw it with startling clarity. "Do it," he said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

Owen uncapped the syringe with his teeth and rammed the needle into the tube in Ianto's neck. Jack watched breathlessly. The monitor continued screeching… and then it stopped. For one terrible second, Jack thought the worst, but then a regular steady beep filled the room.

They both released their breath at the same time. Then they watched as the readings on the monitor slowly stabilized. Owen turned towards one of the machines and let it print out another analysis. He studied it with rapt attention

The door opened and Gwen slipped inside. Her face was tense as she searched for an answer in Jack's eyes. He opened his arms in a wordless invitation and embraced her gently, never taking his eyes off Ianto.

It took a while until Jack dared to speak. "Did it work?" he whispered, barely audible.

Owen grabbed his stethoscope and moved it across Ianto's chest. Gradually, the frown on his forehead smoothed out. Then he turned to Jack with a winning smile. "I think it did."

 

*******************************

**Six months later**

The mobile phone on the low table rang. Ianto put aside the magazine he'd been reading and picked it up. "Hello."

"Just calling to make sure that you haven't forgotten to take your medication."

A soft smile flitted across Ianto's face. "I appreciate the concern, Jack, but I really am quite capable of looking after myself. Even on weekends."

"I know that, but I just love the way you answer the phone."

Ianto laughed. "How was the banquet?"

"Hideously boring. My only source of amusement were the stares I got."

"Serves you right for not dressing properly for an official function."

Jack chuckled softly.

"When will you be home then?"

"Very soon." Jack closed the tiny screen on which he had been watching Ianto and used his key to open the door. As he stepped inside he met the other man's amused look.

"Ah." Ianto closed the phone and put it on the table. He got up and walked towards Jack, a satisfying confidence in his stride.

"You promised you wouldn't spy on me, Jack," he said in a chiding voice

Jack shrugged. "I'm not watching you, I'm watching over you."

"What are you doing here? You've got your own apartment," Ianto murmured as he leaned in to brush a kiss to Jack's lips.

Jack caught him around the waist before he could pull back again and deepened the kiss. "I was missing you," he confessed once their lips had parted.

"But you see me every day," Ianto pointed out, one eyebrow arched.

"I'm not concerned with logic. Go fix me a whiskey." Jack laughed out loud when the full force of Ianto's glare hit him.

"You know where it is," Ianto said smoothly as he helped Jack out of his coat and put it onto a hanger.

Still chuckling, Jack went to the kitchen to grab the bottle from the shelf. As he poured himself a good amount, his glance fell on the small container of pills next to the coffeemaker. He picked it up with a sigh and turned it in his hand. It served as a constant reminder of Varot.

He sensed Ianto's presence in the kitchen before he felt the other man's arms wrap around his hips from behind.

"You don't have to worry about me all the time," Ianto mumbled against his neck. "As long as I take my pills every day I won't have any problems."

"Forever," Jack said, more bitterly than he meant to.

"I really don’t mind. I've got a doctor who is more than happy to prescribe them for me."

"And happy to use it in his salary negotiations." Jack sighed, turning to face the other man. "But the thought still scares me… to think that we almost figured it out too late and…" He stopped, not wanting to finish the thought.

"Well, you didn't." Ianto plucked the container out of Jack's hand and put it back on the counter. He too lingered then, looking at it just a moment longer. "I just wish there was a way to share Owen's research with the world. There are so many people who have this problem."

"That their body is rejecting its own organs?"

"Well no. But it could help people who've received organ transplants, who have histocompatibility issues. I'm sure this drug could prevent acute transplant rejection and…"

"The world isn't ready for this kind of advancement yet," Jack pointed out gently, pulling Ianto into an embrace.

"I suppose…" They stood there for a moment, arms wrapped around each other while the clock on the wall was ticking away the seconds.

"You know, there actually was another amusement at the banquet," Jack said, his chin resting on Ianto's shoulder.

"Oh? Was the catering service made up of cute waiters?"

"Well, that too, but the mayor's personal assistant was making a rather unrefined pass at me."

Ianto felt completely relaxed in his arms. "I see. And did you go for it?"

"No, I didn't feel like a quick romp in the broom closet, but he did give me his number."

"That's good."

Jack nipped at Ianto's ear. "And you're sure you're okay with that?"

Ianto sighed. "Do we have to go through this every time you land a date?"

"I just like making sure you're okay."

"You like making sure way too much," Ianto said, grinding against Jack.

"Let's go to bed…" Jack mumbled against his temple.

"It's not even ten," Ianto replied with a soft laugh.

"I have no intention of sleeping." He led Ianto out of the kitchen and into the bedroom. The select spotlights highlighted the warm earthy colors of the room, the result of a weekend's worth of redecorating efforts. Jack let his eyes roam the room for a moment and a smile crept onto his face when he thought of the lighthearted arguments they'd had over where to put Jack's vintage jazz posters.

His eyes rested on the little corner they had created for him. A comfortable chair with an unobtrusive reading light next to an overloaded bookshelf permitted Jack to pass away the hours of the night when he found himself unable to find rest whenever he stayed over. Often he just enjoyed sitting there, looking at Ianto's sleeping form. Of course he'd never admit that to the other man.

On the other wall pictures of Lisa smiled at him. Next to them was a washed-out photograph of Estelle and lots of others showing him and Ianto. Once Jack had gotten over his initial dislike of Ianto's new digital camera, he'd soon found that he rather enjoyed taking many pictures of them, recording their life together. He chuckled when he thought about the photos Ianto had refused to put up despite Jack's insistence that they were perfectly natural.

Jack turned to look at Ianto and his heart was so full of love that for a moment he felt unable to speak. What was he supposed to say anyway? Instead, he expressed himself as best he could by pulling Ianto close and kissing his neck gently.

Ianto sighed softly and rolled back his head, pressing himself against Jack's body.

Slowly, Jack ran his hand up the other man's side, moving across the small of his back. His fingers brushed past the familiar outline of a gun tucked into the holster at his waistband. "When will you stop wearing that gun?" he murmured against Ianto's throat as he loosened the belt.

"Never," Ianto replied simply as he took a step back to pull Jack's shirt out. "I still feel threatened by Varot," he continued, slowly opening one button after the other. "He might make another attempt. I'll be ready when he does."

"He won't." Jack lifted his arms to shrug out of his shirt. "He got what he wanted," he said, grabbing Ianto around the waist.

"What? Us living happily ever after?"

"I doubt that's what he had in mind. But I'm not complaining." With that, Jack let himself fall backwards on the bed, pulling Ianto with him.

Ianto laughed and crawled on top of him, straddling his hips. They kissed languidly. "I love you," Ianto murmured and Jack sighed contentedly.

Fabric rustled as it was pushed aside, the sounds of tender kisses being pressed to naked skin mingled with quickened breaths and soft sighs.

"Oh, before I forget…" Ianto panted, his lips glistening from Jack's kisses.

Jack didn't stop slowly undressing the other man. "Hm?"

"My cousins are coming over for dinner tomorrow."

Jack froze mid-motion. Then he put his forehead against Ianto's collarbone and groaned.

"Don't worry. It will be fine." Ianto said with a smile. "And hopefully Iorwerth and Gwilym won't be too offended when you get their names all wrong again."

Jack lifted his head, his eyebrows raised in mock offense. "Well, I just so happen to think that there are better ways to use your tongue." He silenced Ianto's laugh with another kiss.

As his mouth explored the other man's slowly, hands running across his body in searching caresses, Jack couldn't help but think that perhaps Varot had indeed gotten what he wanted. Involuntarily, his fingers tightened over Ianto's back.

He too would have to watch a loved one die and in a way it would hurt even more later. In the past, Jack had always tried his best to move on before that happened. But now…

Determined not to let his dark thoughts show, Jack put everything into the kiss, all his love, his despair and eventual grief. That future was still far away, he comforted himself. And once it came he'd meet it with the memories of an entire lifetime shared with Ianto.

 

~ The End ~


End file.
